This still reeks of CYA.

> "He refused to take time off or allow any work to be delegated. He also repeatedly rejected attempts to introduce free open source frameworks to replace hard-to-maintain bespoke tools."

Why did he have the authority in either of those last two decisions?

> "I agree that the situation that came about was also his manager’s fault. "

And his manager's manager, and basically anyone who was aware of this project and the fact that it was delayed by two years.

Nobody above Rick's manager was looking into this project when it was delayed by two years? Nobody took a look at the JIRA/whatever board and saw that one person was blocking everyone despite working 100 hours a week?