A former leader in the BP oil spill cleanup has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the company claiming he was fired for refusing to lie to the public about important information about the cleanup.
According to Courthouse News, August Walter filed his complaint against BP America in Federal Court claiming that the company attempted to mislead Coast Guard officials to believe that the cleanup in Mississippi was almost complete.
“BP refused to follow the STRs [ Shoreline Treatment Recommendations] and Walter opposed BP's refusal to comply. Ultimately BP demanded that Walter misrepresent clean-up data to get approval from the unified command to Legacy Coast Guard management," the complaint stated.
The whistleblower lawsuit also claimed that “Walter found that BP Operations had blatantly and intentionally deviated and were not working segments of environmental concern… [Vice President of Operations Carla Fontenot] specifically threatened Walter stating that she 'had people watching him that would call her' if he messed up by continuing to insist that BP strictly implement the STR in accordance with the approved environmental plans and milestones.”
Walter claims that when he refused orders of BP’s Operations Section Chief Mike Harrison, to “falsify the data by changing the number of segments that still needed to be cleaned to a lower number,” he was put on leave until the company could find a reason to fire him. His leave began November 8 2011 and he was fired the following day.
He seeks damages for wrongful termination and whistleblower violations.
If you have been wrongfully terminated from employment, contact Sokolove Law to learn about your options and find out if you have grounds to pursue legal action.