Rig Survivors Felt Coerced To Sign Waivers - NPR

[WillyT]

Rig Survivors Felt Coerced To Sign Waivers
by Joseph Shapiro
May 6, 2010

<snip>

Hours after they had been rescued, workers who survived an explosion on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico were asked to sign form letters about what they had seen and whether they had been injured.

Lawyers for the oil rig's owner, Transocean, requested that workers who had survived the blast sign the form in the wake of the April 20 blowout on the Deepwater Horizon. This was hours before the workers had been allowed to see their families.

Now some of those survivors say they were coerced and that the forms are being used against them as they file lawsuits seeking compensation for psychiatric problems and other injuries from the blast.

"The form that they made them sign had, 'I was here when it happened, I didn't see anything.' Or 'I saw this and I was or was not hurt,' " says Steven Gordon, a Houston attorney who represents some of the survivors.

It's a pre-printed form letter. The surviving rig worker was asked to fill in the date, his name and address and where he was at the time the evacuation was ordered.

Then there are the two paragraphs at the end.

One says: "I was not a witness to the incident requiring the evacuation and have no first hand or personal knowledge regarding the incident."

The second says: "I was not injured as a result of the incident or evacuation."

The men were asked — if they agreed — to initial those statements.

Documents show those initials now are being used against the survivors as they file lawsuits seeking payment for emotional distress and other claims. Gordon says "When we were hired by one of the survivors, we gave notice to Transocean's lawyers. And the immediate response was, 'Wow, we're surprised. Here's a statement that says he's not hurt.'"

<snip>

More: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126565283

The Waiver: http://media.npr.org/documents/2010/may/oilrig.pdf

:mad:

:kick:

[mrmpa]

1. Transocean nothing but f***ing a**holes

[lonestarnot]

2. scab outfit?

[WillyT]

3. Kick !!!

:kick:

[ihavenobias]

4. # 6. n/t

[WillyT]

5. Thanks Bro !!!

:bounce:

:hi:

[malaise]

6. I guess the only reason they haven't forced the dead workers

to sign is that they haven't found their bodies. :puke:

[madokie]

7. You don't reckon

that the dick has anything to do with this for whatever nefarious reason he may have do you?
I don't trust the bastard.