People are curious to know about David Lochridge lawsuit trial and verdict. David Lochridge is OceanGate’s director of marine operations.
The “Titan” submersible later vanished with five personnel on board. Andrew Lochridge, the former head of Marine Operations at OceanGate, claims the firm fired him after raising safety concerns.
In 2018, OceanGate Inc. filed a lawsuit against David Lochridge and his spouse Carole Reid Lochridge in the Western District of Washington.
According to court records, he submitted a counterclaim for wrongful termination in violation of public policy.
In the counterclaim, Lochridge is described as a whistleblower employed in good standing before writing an inspection report in 2018 that raised issues with the submersible.
Read further till the end to know about David Lochridge lawsuit trial and verdict.
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David Lochridge Lawsuit Trial And Verdict
In his counterclaim to OceanGate’s lawsuit, Lochridge claims he was asked to write an “OceanGate Cyclops 2 Quality Control Inspection Report” by the company’s chief Executive officer, Stockton Rush.
Rush is one of the five people aboard the missing Titan sub on January 18, 2018.
Titan, which vanished on June 18, 2023, while diving to examine the Titanic Shipwreck, was originally named Cyclops 2. There is a vast search effort going on.
OceanGate “summarily terminated David Lochridge’s employment because he raised critical safety concerns regarding OceanGate’s experimental and untested design of the Titan.
Lochridge’s counterclaim in the lawsuit claims that Lochridge was “hired to ensure the safety of all crew and clients during submersible and surface operations.”
The New York Post claims that Lochridge wasn’t the only person to voice concerns.
The Marine Technology Society stated that its members “have collectively expressed unanimous concern regarding the development of TITAN and the planned Titanic Expedition.
David Lochridge Titanic Submersible Case Update
Documents reveal that the business whose submersible was lost in the North Atlantic during a tourist dive near the Titanic ruins was repeatedly warned that the manner it was constructed could pose catastrophic safety issues.
Operated by OceanGate Expeditions, the Titan has five personnel aboard and is being searched for by a growing multinational fleet of ships and aircraft.
If the Titan were still operating, there would be decreasing amounts of oxygen on board. Since 2021, the Everett, Washington-based undersea exploration business has visited the Titanic annually.
Although the vessel was not located, the U.S. Coast Guard stated early Wednesday that a Canadian aircraft had discovered underwater noises, which was the first encouraging development since the search began.
The company’s decision to rely on sensitive acoustic monitoring—cracking or popping sounds produced by the hull under pressure—rather than a hull scan raised worries from Lochridge.
According to Lochridge, the business informed him that no technology was available to conduct this test on the hull’s 5-inch (12.7-centimeter) thick carbon fiber.
Society members expressed concern in the letter, which the New York Times obtained, that “the current experimental approach adopted by Oceangate could result in negative outcomes that would have serious consequences for everyone in the industry.”
Rush bemoaned how the industry’s strategy impeded innovation in a 2019 interview with Smithsonian magazine.
He claimed that “there hasn’t been an injury in the commercial sub-industry in over 35 years,” he claimed.“
All these rules and regulations make it obscenely safe. However, it hasn’t developed or innovated because of all the regulations.
Also read: Titanic Submarine Stockton Rush Death News: Is CEO of OceanGate Dead or Alive?
