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 last year, 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 Thursday granted the union's motion to dismiss the complaint:

The [New York] Court of Appeals has held that suits against unions, which are unincorporated associations, "for breaches of agreements or for tortious wrongs" are limited to "cases where the individual liability of every single member can be alleged and proven." Here, dismissal of the tort claims against Local 3 is warranted because Charter failed to plead that each individual union member authorized or ratified the allegedly unlawful conduct by defendants.

While New York law makes it hard for companies to sue unions, Charter's suit also contained other deficiencies that "warrant the dismissal of this claim," wrote Justice Kathryn Freed of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County. (The NY Supreme Court is a trial-level court; New York's highest state court is the Court of Appeals.)

For example, "Many of Charter's allegations do not contain the name(s) of the individual(s) who committed the allegedly unlawful conduct," Freed wrote. Instead, Charter's suit repeatedly "claims that 'someone' committed certain wrongful acts."

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, Freed wrote.

Freed also dismissed Charter's motion to compel expedited discovery from the defendants. Charter's motion sought evidence to bolster the cable company's case against the union, but Charter "failed to specify how additional discovery [regarding recent alleged sabotage and picketing] would enable [it] to state a sufficient claim with respect to the dismissed allegations," Freed wrote.

Charter considers appeal

Charter told Ars that it is "reviewing the decision and determining whether we will appeal."

While Charter reported more than 125 acts of vandalism when it filed the lawsuit in October 2017, the number is now up to "more than 135."

"We have experienced more than 135 acts of vandalism to the Spectrum network since the strike began in March 2017, compared to four instances in the three prior years combined," Charter said today.

Union representatives praised the court ruling.

"We're ecstatic," Local 3 business manager Chris Erikson said, according to The New York Daily News. "I'm glad there are people with enough common sense to understand the law… I feel protected."

"We are pleased that Judge Freed saw through Spectrum/Charter's attempt to deflect attention from its corporate greed and union-busting tactics," Local 3 attorney John Byington said, according to the Daily News report.

The union represents 1,800 Charter employees and says Charter wants to eliminate numerous employee benefits, such as pension contributions and personal days. The union also says that Charter "is forcing technicians to install refurbished equipment not capable of maintaining Internet speeds."

Separately, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has a pending lawsuit against Charter that alleges the Internet provider "conduct[ed] a deliberate scheme to defraud and mislead New Yorkers by promising Internet service that they knew they could not deliver."

Strike continues

Charter became the country's second largest cable company after Comcast when Charter purchased Time Warner Cable in 2016.

There's no news on when the strike in New York might end. Charter told Ars that hundreds of Local 3 members "have returned to work [and] are enjoying the generous compensation package we offer."

According to Charter, that includes "an average 22-percent wage increase—some employees up to 55 percent—plus comprehensive retirement and health benefits, including a 401(k) that provides a dollar-for-dollar match up to 6 percent of eligible pay." Charter says the benefit package offered to its New York workers "is in line with the medical and savings plans enjoyed by more than 94,000 Charter employees nationwide."

Disclosure: The Advance/Newhouse Partnership, which owns 13 percent of Charter, is part of Advance Publications. Advance Publications owns Condé Nast, which owns Ars Technica.