Transocean's Two Faces: One for the media, the other for the courts.

After all of its public rhetoric about standing up for its employees, Transocean has finally revealed its other face in a formal court document it filed yesterday seeking to limit its liability based on the explosion of its Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20, 2010.

Transocean's lawyers sent our law firm copies of Transocean's Limitation of Liability court document that it filed yesterday in Houston federal court, three blocks from our law office. We published a copy of the "notice" document filed by Transocean yesterday in our Maritime Accident Law Library.

The mere fact that Transocean decided to file this pleading and seek to severely limit any compensation to its employees contradicts its prior public stance that it would "take care" of its workers. We analyzed how the filing itself will impact the rig workers in a post yesterday: URGENT: What Transocean's "Limitation of Liability" filing means for Deepwater Horizon explosion victims.

Now that we have had an opportunity to read the details of what Transocean writes in its filing, we are wondering whether this is the same company that has publicly declared a strong bond to its workers following this explosion.

Here is part of what Transocean writes: "Any and all injury, loss, destruction and damage arising out of or related to the [Deepwater Horizon explosion] was not caused or contributed to by any fault, negligence or lack of due care on the part of [Transocean] or unseaworthiness or fault of the MODU Deepwater Horizon, or any person in charge of her, or any person for whom [Transocean] was responsible."

As you can see, Transocean is DENYING ALL FAULT related to the rig explosion. Moreover, Transocean is denying that the explosion was caused by any other company involved in the operations of the Deepwater Horizon -- that would include British Petroleum, Halliburton, and Cameron. Clearly, based on the limited Congressional hearings conducted to date, it is quite clear that all of these companies share responsibility for what happened, and the fact that Transocean is already denying all fault speaks volumes as to how Transocean is going to treat its workers in the litigation process.

Based on Transocean's statements to the media up until now, it would be fair for its workers to assume the company would take care of them. Transocean probably made similar statements directly to its employees and their families, and likely encouraged them not to hire a lawyer.

But now, with its first courtroom filing related to the Deepwater Horizon explosion, Transocean reveals its true intentions: deny, deny, deny. Transocean will apparently use every litigation trick in the book to try to limit what its employees can recover because of its rig disaster. This is just the first.

Any employees who still had doubts about pursuing a legal claim against Transocean because the company told them they didn't need a lawyer because it would take care of them should read the company's liability limitation filing. Clearly, the company and its attorneys are hard at work seeking to deny all of its workers' claims, as they explicitly state in their formal courthouse filings.

The bottom line: Transocean told you not to hire a lawyer, because it would take care of you. Then, the company hired its own lawyers and filed formal court papers denying all claims and seeking to severely limit any payments to its employees, including you. Shouldn't you consider hiring a lawyer to fight Transocean in court, where the real battle will take place?

If you have questions about how Transocean's liability limitation filing impacts your legal rights following the Deepwater Horizon explosion, please call us Toll Free at (877) 724-7800. If you would like to read our answers to the most common questions about the rig explosion, please order our book: The Most Common Questions About the Transocean Rig Explosion.