One of the two BP well site leaders on the Deepwater Horizon at the time of the deadly April 20, 2010 blowout has been excused from testifying in the massive civil lawsuits surrounding the accident.
Donald Vidrine, one of the two BP workers on the rig overseeing the drilling operations, was excused from testifying “for medical reasons” according to a filing made by Magistrate Judge Sally Shushan on Thursday.
Vidrine’s medical records were placed in the court record under seal for the parties to review, according to the filing.
Robert Kaluza, the other BP well site leader on the rig, took the 5th in the depositions earlier this month.
Vidrine is best known for allegedly having an argument with Transocean manager Jimmy Wayne Harrell over procedures the morning of the accident. Harrell later downplayed the incident.
More than a dozen individuals have been interviewed by attorneys for the many parties involved in the suit, including former BP Chairman Tony Hayward. Others have taken the 5th, including Harrell and Halliburton cement engineer Jesse Gagliano.
According to attorneys familiar with the proceedings, individual who wish to take the 5th are forced to sit through what can be hours of questioning from the plaintiff’s lawyers in the case and repeat that they are invoking their 5th Amendment rights.
Vidrine was excused from testifying before the joint U.S. Coast Guard/Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement hearings held previously, while Kaluza took the 5th in those proceedings through his attorneys.
Well yeah… He’s got a hernia from schlepping those two suitcases stuffed with hush money that he got from BP.
Nutty…. apt name.
I guess this means they are all gonna get to walk !! IMO These men are Guilty of nothing less than Negligent Homicide in the deaths of those 11 men .. Not to mention the deaths of countless marine and wildlife! When if ever will we the people of the Gulf Coast ever get justice for the Greed induced disaster that was the BP/Transocean/Haliburton DWH explosion and Spill!! Profits over safety !! Seems to indeed be a systemic industry wide practice that has got to change !