A mysterious new development has occurred in the legal action against National Oilwell VARCO L.P., the Texas company sued over the Jan. 22, 2018 tragic well blowout that left five workers dead at a site near Quinton, Oklahoma.
A Dec. 5 filing in Pittsburg County District Court shows one of the wives of a worker killed in the rig explosion has dismissed with prejudice, all of her claims against NOV.
The filing was made by an attorney for NOV and showed that Dianna Waldridge, whose 60-year old husband Parker Waldridge of Crescent was killed in the blast had agreed to dismiss claims against the company. She had filed suit against the firm as did other survivors in 2018.
Parker Waldridge was a consultant on site of the rig and in the doghouse when the explosion and fire occurred.
The filing did not give an explanation why his widow reached the agreement.
Waldridge later made a confidential settlement agreement with other defendants including Patterson-UTI Drilling Company LLC, Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. and Patterson-UTI Management Services, LLC. She and four other family members, Julie Smith, Betty Cunningham, Charles Brite and Sarah Ray reached the settlements.
Pittsburg County District Judge Michael W. Hogan, in an Oct. 1, 2019 ruling, upheld a Discovery Master’s decision to maintain the secrecy of the confidential settlement, despite efforts of National Oilwell VARCO to gain access for its defense in trial.
The Discovery Master had determined that “Patterson has established good cause by showing that prejudice and harm could result to the Plaintiffs who are parties to the Confidential Settlement Agreements.”
The Master explained “that during their oral argument it was explained that in each of these cases many of the beneficiaries of these Settlement Agreements are minor children of the decedents and their privacy should be protected.”
A protective order was issued to keep the agreements from being made public.
At last word, court filings showed the case by five other plaintiffs in their suits against NOV will go to trial Jan. 13, 2020 at 9 a.m. in McAlester.
Along with Parker Waldridge, Roger Cunningham, 55, of Seminole; Josh Ray, 35, of Fort Worth, Texas; Cody Risk, 26, of Wellington, Colorado; and Matt Smith, 29, of McAlester were killed in the explosion.