Bradshaw & Associates In The News - Law Firm Bradshaw & Associates, P.C. Attorneys San Francisco, California

Bay Area Man's Beef With Cable Company

abc4news.com
By Michael Finney

Jan. 27 - KGO (KGO) -- A San Francisco man heard mysterious footsteps coming from his roof. When he ran to investigate, he didn't like what he discovered, so he called 7 On Your Side.

The man was not imagining things. What he heard were the footsteps of someone investigating a neighbor's home. That man may have also been trespassing.

John Butler remembers the day back in August. He heard the footsteps, ran to his window and saw a stranger climbing down a ladder off his roof.

John Butler, San Francisco: "And I yelled out, 'what are you doing on our roof?' And he said, 'I'm auditing.'"

The man walking on the roof was a subcontractor hired by Comcast to periodically investigate whether anyone was stealing the cable signal.

Butler says he had been home for 20 minutes, but no one ever asked permission to climb on his roof.

John Butler, San Francisco: "That's trespassing. I don't take kindly to that."

The Comcast subcontractor, Direct Effect, says the employee responsible is no longer with the company. Both Comcast and Direct Effect acknowledge a mistake was made.

Andrew Johnson, Comcast, VP for Communications: "We're sincerely apologetic for that. It's something that we strive very hard to make sure it doesn't happen."

But it doesn't think the contractor was trespassing.

Property rights attorney Drexel Bradshaw disagrees.

Drexel Bradshaw, attorney: "When the independent contractor employed by Comcast went on the roof of someone else without their permission, that's trespassing."

Complicating matters is a new leak in Butler's foam roof -- a leak he suspects is connected to the man walking on his roof.

But another roofing contractor called out by Comcast says it sees no connection between the two events.

Bradshaw says the bottom line -- it's still trespassing.

Drexel Bradshaw, attorney: "It's not that the independent contractor needed the intent to cause harm or to steal something from the consumer. It's that he intended to take the step."

Comcast says Butler is welcomed to ask another contractor to inspect the roof. The cable company tells 7 On Your Side it will fix any damage it is proven to have caused.