Charter fails to prove that its employees purposely caused cable outages

Charter Communications has lost a lawsuit in which it accused a workers' union of sabotaging the Charter network during an ongoing strike. Charter sued IBEW Local Union No. 3 in a New York state court in October in 2017, alleging that union leadership "orchestrated" vandalism of coaxial and fiber cables that had caused outages for tens of thousands of subscribers. The lawsuit said vandalism hit Charter cables in New York City more than 125 times during the strike, which began in March 2017 and is now entering its second year. But a court ruling issued March 29 granted the union's motion to dismiss the complaint. Charter's suit alleged that "the perpetrators of these acts of sabotage were Local 3 members and/or agents," but it failed to identify the individuals or demonstrate how Charter knows they are union members, Justice Kathryn Freed wrote.