Charter Ad Sanctions Were Bankruptcy Overstep, Second Cir. Says

Charter Communications Inc. was improperly sanctioned by a bankruptcy court for an advertising push aimed at poaching customers from a bankrupt competitor, an appellate court ruled.

Charter’s advertising campaign targeting customers of Windstream Holdings Inc., during its 2019 bankruptcy, didn’t constitute a violation of the automatic stay that protects companies in Chapter 11 because it wasn’t an attempt by Charter to exercise control over Windstream’s property, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Monday. The ruling affirmed the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

“The automatic stay exists to give debtors a ‘fresh ...