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Item 3. Legal Proceedings.

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Item 3. Legal Proceedings.

See below for legal proceedings information as well as Note 19 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements contained in “Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K which is incorporated herein by reference.

On March 28, 2017, prior to the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement on March 31, 2017, approximately 1,600 of our employees in New York City and New Jersey, represented by Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (the “IBEW”) commenced a strike. Charter proposed substantial wage increases and a reduction of its share in contributions into IBEW-sponsored multi-employer pension and healthcare plans. Local 3 rejected Charter’s proposal and went on strike in furtherance of its demand that Charter increase its contributions into the IBEW-sponsored plans with only modest wage increases. As a result of an impasse in the negotiations, Charter implemented the terms of its last proposal, which included substantial wage increases and replaced the IBEW-sponsored plans with Charter benefit plans. In May 2018, a bargaining unit petitioned the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") for an election to decertify the IBEW as the collective bargaining representative for the New York City

and New Jersey bargaining unit employees. The ballots for the decertification vote were mailed by the NLRB on January 25, 2019 with a return date of February 22 and a ballot count scheduled for February 25, 2019.

During this period of the IBEW strike, the New York Public Service Commission (the “PSC”) issued multiple orders against Charter. These orders included two orders on July 27, 2018 relating to the agreement by which the PSC approved Charter’s merger with Time Warner Cable. One order rejected Charter’s arguments as to why Charter continued to be compliant with the merger conditions and determined that Charter had failed to satisfy one of its merger conditions by not extending its high speed broadband network according to the PSC’s recent interpretation of which homes and businesses Charter built to should count. The order further directed the initiation of a court action to impose financial and other penalties on Charter. The second order, based primarily upon Charter’s progress in meeting its broadband expansion commitment as judged by the PSC, purported to rescind the PSC’s January 2016 approval of Charter’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable’s New York operations and directs Charter to submit a plan to effect an orderly transition to a successor provider or providers for Charter to cease operations in New York within six months of the order. Such plan had been ordered to be submitted within 60 days of the July 27, 2018 order. However, as the PSC and Charter entered into discussions with the possibility of resolving the PSC related matters, the PSC extended such deadline on five occasions with the last extension requiring submission of an exit plan by March 4, 2019 with a February 4, 2019 deadline by when Charter would have to file formal oppositions to the PSC orders. On July 30, 2018, the PSC filed a petition for penalties and injunctive relief in the Supreme Court of the State of New York seeking penalties of $100,000 per day from June 18, 2018 and until Charter complies with the PSC order and also seeks injunctive relief from the court to enjoin failure to comply with the New York Public Service Laws or any regulation or order of the PSC.

Charter continues to believe that its plain reading of the merger conditions is correct and that it is in compliance with the merger conditions. Although Charter has entered into discussions with the PSC with the possibility of resolving the PSC matters, Charter has substantial defenses and appeal rights regarding the actions of the PSC and will aggressively defend against these unprecedented actions by the PSC. We expect these proceedings to continue for up to several years unless a settlement is reached. While we believe the actions by the PSC are without merit and intend to defend the actions vigorously and do not believe the results of the proceedings will have a material adverse effect on Charter, no assurance can be given that, should an adverse outcome result, it would not be material to our consolidated financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. We cannot predict the outcome of the PSC claims, including any negotiations, nor can we reasonably estimate a range of possible loss in the event of an adverse result.

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