Did you know that Charter Spectrum is sending violent criminals and thieves into your homes to install your Wi-Fi, cable and phones?

In Dec 2019, Betty Thomas, an 83-year old Charter Spectrum subscriber in Texas and lifelong Republican, was brutally robbed and murdered by a Charter Spectrum technician in her home. Betty’s family sued the company and a jury found Charter Spectrum guilty of gross negligence and felony forgery and awarded the family more than $7 BILLION in damages. And still, Charter Spectrum has not changed any of its policies or procedures to ensure this horrific crime does not happen again. Worse, they tried to cover it all up.

Charter Spectrum should be ashamed and all Spectrum customers should be terrified!!!!

Unfortunately, Betty’s case is not unusual. There are an overwhelming number of thefts, assaults, rapes and other criminal behavior that Charter Spectrum employees commit but you never hear about them because Charter Spectrum forces people to settle in secret. It is wrong and immoral and they need to be held accountable.

Here are a few top line FACTS this trial revealed about Charter Spectrum, technician practices and the potentially life-threatening situations they are putting innocent families in daily…

Why don’t we hear about these crimes?

You don’t hear about these crimes because when you sign their service agreement, there is an arbitration clause you sign off on that prohibits you from taking legal action against the company if something happens.

This allows Spectrum to hide any illegal behavior from the public and law enforcement. And no matter how violent or abusive or life-threatening the behavior, the arbitration agreement limits how much you can be compensated to the amount of your last bill.

So if you get raped by a technician, you would get a couple of hundred dollars, not be able to publicize it, and nothing would be reported to the police while the tech/rapist is allowed to continue to go into other people’s homes? This is outrageous and should be stopped.

We now know that Spectrum DOES NOT do pre-employment checks on the Spectrum technicians entering your home – did you know that?

It is unconscionable that Spectrum does not do pre-employment checks on staff that GO INTO PEOPLE’S HOMES. AT&T does them, as do many, many companies as a requirement for hiring employees. Had one been done, Betty Thomas’s killer would not have been hired as the case showed he lied about his employment history. Does Spectrum care so little about protecting its customers that they can’t do the bare minimum to ensure safety?

Did you know that recently an elderly woman was brutally murdered by a Spectrum technician? Did you know that Spectrum tried to cover it up?

Betty Thomas was brutally murdered and robbed by a Spectrum tech in December 2019. Not only does Spectrum refuse to take any responsibility, they have not changed any of their policies since the murder to better ensure the safety of their customers.

Worse, they were found to have committed felony forgery to try to force the case into arbitration (which would have kept this case a secret).

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/29/cable-company-ordered-to-pay-over-7-billion-in-damages-to-family-of-texas-grandmother-murdered-by-employee.html

Why didn’t Charter Spectrum do pre-employment verification on their technician that murdered this elderly woman?

According to testimony in the murder trial, Spectrum stopped doing pre-employment checks because it cost $4 per verification and they didn’t want to pay for it. In other words, our lives and safety are not worth $4 to a company whose net worth is more than $80B.

How does Charter Spectrum compare to say, AT&T in terms of pre-employment verification? When did Spectrum stop doing background checks on technicians and shouldn’t they disclose that???

Notably, $4 is not too much to pay for AT&T which does pre-employment verifications. Charter Spectrum stopped doing the verifications and the public should demand they return to doing them ASAP.

Spectrum committed felony forgery, how is it possible that criminal charges against Charter Spectrum weren’t filed? Why aren’t people horrified by this?

Criminal charges may still be filed. People should be horrified. As if the crime weren’t bad enough, Spectrum illegally tries to cover it up. They should be held accountable criminally.

While the case was very public, it’s very difficult to find information about the case online, why?

A case like this that has wide-reaching consequences on the public should be more publicized. Imagine if a doctor that didn’t have all the proper vetting killed someone and the insurance company covered it up and forced patients to continue to go to that doctor? This is a matter of public safety and the public should be outraged.

While this is one of the highest settlements in history, and aside from the Spectrum coverup and the overall atrocity, why did the judge rule this way?

The jury actually ruled the family of Betty Thomas should receive $375M to “compensate” them for her wrongful death. Not only was she stabbed and left to die alone, this was a murder that could have been avoided had Spectrum acted on the warning signs of a desperate, mentally unstable employee and had the company been more diligent about securing its vans and equipment.

This murder did not need to happen. The jury further decided that Spectrum’s negligence was so egregious and intentionally criminal that it awarded the family an additional $7B (billion with a ‘B’). It is a massive ruling that was clearly made to send a message to Spectrum. The only way to make a company change is to hit them where it hurts – which is in their profits.

I have Spectrum and an appointment for an install next week – should I be scared? What can consumers do to protect themselves?

All Spectrum customers should be afraid. In the nearly 3 years since Betty Thomas’ senseless murder, NOTHING has changed – Charter Spectrum have not started doing pre-employment verifications, they have not done staff training so supervisors have an escalation process with a troubled employee, they have not stopped forcing arbitrations, they have not changed their policies on informing police of crimes committed by their staff – they have done NOTHING to ensure your safety.

You should complain to Charter Spectrum and demand changes are made. And you should never allow a tech into your home unattended. Always have a friend or family present at the time of the service. As this case shows, they cannot be trusted into your home.

Shouldn’t there be a higher standard for hiring and vetting techs and anyone that is given access to consumer homes?

Absolutely yes. For service people coming INTO YOUR HOME, your private space, every precaution should be taken. As an example, Uber and Lyft have upped their policies in the wake of hearing about abuse against riders. Charter Spectrum should be trying all the technological tools to ensure customers’ protection – but the truth is they are not even trying.

Could this have been an inside job? Why did the company pay to defend the tech in this lawsuit and why would they try to cover it up?

Good question. It’s baffling why the company would pay for the murderer’s defense and commit felony forgery if they did not have something to hide. This would be a good topic for the Attorney General or District Attorney to take up.

Does this verdict mean they have to change their practices to better protect consumers?

We wish verdict included forcing changes to their policies but it does not. That’s why it’s important for Spectrum’s subscribers to demand change.

What is a forced arbitration clause and why is that relevant here?

Forced arbitration is something companies do to make you settle a dispute. In Spectrum’s case, forced arbitration is embedded in the fine print of your service agreement so if something happens to you and you signed that agreement, you would have no choice but to privately arbitrate.

In the case of Betty Thomas, had she signed, her heirs would have been entitled to less than $200 (the amount of her last statement) for her wrongful death. Spectrum forged her signature and were caught which is why the jury awarded her heirs so much money.

In addition to trying to get away with forcing the family into arbitration, they continued to bill Betty Thomas AFTER HER DEATH for the service call by her murderer and when she didn’t pay because SHE WAS DECEASED, they sent the bills to collections. This shows how little they care about your life and only want your money!

Charter was found to commit a felony -- shouldn‘t CEO be fired? Shouldn’t the board at least reprimand the leadership? And again, why isn’t every Spectrum consumer told that the techs are possible criminals before scheduling appointments?

The CEO and Board should be fired. That they allow – and still allow – unvetted service technicians into people’s homes is criminal. And that they attempted to cover it all up by forging Betty Thomas’ name onto a document that would have forced her family into private arbitration is truly despicable.

They should be sanctioned by the FCC and criminally charged by law enforcement.

How do we stop Spectrum and more senseless murders and crimes?

First, the company needs to be held accountable. Spectrum keeps appealing every ruling – probably to wait out the family knowing how traumatic every trial is for them. Not only are they victims of the crime against their loved ones, they are forced to have to relive the brutal murder of their loved one with every appeal.

Customers need to demand Spectrum start doing pre-employment verifications, have a process for identifying erratic behavior by service technicians and escalating those cases so they are not deployed into people’s homes, and they need to stop forcing people into arbitration. How many countless rapes, murders, theft and abuses are we not aware of because they’re hidden by these secret settlements? We need transparency and we need it now.

One quick update worth noting: The moment we wanted to help the family and demand justice for Betty Thomas and those like her, who have become innocent victims of corporate corner-cutting (like not paying for appropriate background checks); we weren’t met with a willingness from Spectrum to own their part and improve, we were met with an overwhelming effort to shut this website down and suppress these questions from being asked. Imagine if Spectrum had spent the millions they are spending on legal fees and suppressing free speech, on building safer systems and processes for protecting customers…really think about that.

On that note, it is not only Spectrum, the tragic outcomes related to minimal safety efforts from corporate entities continue to mount with another horrific story in Texas. Are Texas legislators and citizens ok with women and children being victimized. Please stop these tragedies Spectrum, protect your consumers, don’t facilitate their trauma.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/03/us/athena-strand-kidnapped-fedex-driver.html