BP drilling boss 'quit over safety' before spill

A former BP drilling operations chief resigned just months before last year's Gulf of Mexico oil spill amid disagreements over the oil giant's commitment to safety, a class-action lawsuit says.

Documents early today in Houston, Texas, claim Kevin Lacy, BP's former senior vice president for drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico, reached a mutual agreement with the company to resign in December 2009 because he believed BP was not adequately committed to improving safety protocols in offshore operations to the level of its industry peers.