BeforeTitanImplosion, Ex-Employee Claims Company Asked Staffers to Voluntarily 'Forgo Getting Paid for Periods of Time'

Mar. 15, 2025

Image of the Missing Titan Submarine, Atlantic Ocean - 22 Jun 2023.Photo:EyePress News/Shutterstock

EyePress News/Shutterstock

A former OceanGate employee has testified that staff members were asked to forgo getting paid before itsTitansubmersible imploded, killing all five people aboard in June 2023.

During theCoast Guard’s hearinginto thetragedyon Monday, Sept. 23, Phil Brookstestifiedabout his time with OceanGate. According to his LinkedIn account, Brooks was hired as an embedded Linux engineer in 2019 before being promoted to director of engineering in 2021. He left OceanGate in early 2023 and currently works as a senior hardware engineer in Seattle.

As for why he resigned, Brooks pointed to the financial issues OceanGate was reportedly facing at the time.

“I don’t know if you heard, there were economic issues with the company asking us to forgo getting paid for periods of time with the promise that they would get us caught up in paychecks after the first of the year,” Brooks said during Monday’s hearing. “They asked for volunteers. I don’t think anybody did it, but it was clear that the company was economically very stressed.”

Brooks added that as a result of that “stress,” he believes “the safety was being compromised way too much, at least for myself.”

“At my age, working on a bobbing platform was too dangerous and not something that I wanted to do,” he continued, adding, “It did not feel right for them to be going, and like I said, I had suggested that they not go. I was told that that wasn’t possible, that they had people that paid and they had to go through with it. That was basically the reason I left.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Undated image of Titan submersible.HANDOUT/OceanGate Expeditions/AFP via Getty

HANDOUT/OceanGate Expeditions/AFP via Getty

While testifying, Brooks said that there were “several” factors that led to his exit, however, safety was also a concern for him.

“The main thing was the decision had been made to not use the Horizon Arctic [but] to use the Polar Prince and to tow the sub behind the Polar Prince,” he said.

Brooks continued, “When we were on the ship in 2021 and 2022, there was constant work, almost 24/7 — except when they were diving on the sub — some kind of maintenance or troubleshooting. We worked very hard trying to keep things as best we could.”

“And so, this would’ve required us to work on the platform either while it was being towed or while we were anchored or in position,” Brooks said. “The seas are 1- to 5-meter seas and the platform bobs up and down, and I just did not see that I could do that.”

Broks added that he “did not feel right” that his staff “would be required to do that” and expressed his concerns with his manager, OceanGate chief operating officer Bob Shuman. “The reasons were economic reasons. I suggested that they not go, that it was just not a workable solution.”

He noted that at the time, he had another job offer, and realized that he “could not work on the sub” as it was allegedly “just too dangerous.”

“So that really was the primary reason,” said Brooks.

Titan submersible.HANDOUT/OceanGate Expeditions/AFP via Getty

TheTitanbegan its final diveon June 18, 2023, and descended into the North Atlantic before it imploded, killing OceanGate co-founderStockton Rush, 61;Titanicexpert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77; British-Pakistani billionaire Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son, Suleman; and billionaire British explorer Hamish Harding, 58. Human remains from the implosion were later recovered.

OceanGate has since halted all business activity and “has no full-time employees,” per a previous statement shared with PEOPLE. The companyhas “been fully cooperatingwith the Coast Guard and NTSB [National Transportation Safety Board] as they investigate the incident.

The Coast Guard’s hearings began on Sept. 16 and are expected to last two weeks.

source: people.com