Family Files Lawsuit Against Boeing Following Whistleblower’s Suicide

The relatives of former Boeing quality control manager John Barnett initiated a wrongful death lawsuit against the aerospace corporation on Thursday, claiming that the company perpetuated systematic harassment and intimidation that ultimately resulted in Barnett’s suicide, as stated by the attorneys representing his family.

Authorities reported that Barnett, aged 62, succumbed to a self-inflicted gunshot wound on March 9, 2024, in Charleston, South Carolina. At the time of his passing, he resided in Louisiana.

His death occurred shortly after he subjected himself to extensive questioning by attorneys concerning his whistleblower allegations against Boeing, according to the lawsuit.

The federal lawsuit filed in South Carolina accuses Boeing of executing a “campaign of harassment, abuse, and intimidation aimed at discouraging, discrediting, and humiliating him until he either surrendered or was discredited,” as per the lawsuit.

Barnett retired from Boeing in 2017 after serving as a quality control manager for numerous years. Following his retirement, he publicly raised alarms about alleged safety defects in Boeing’s jumbo jets.

Specifically, Barnett reported seeing discarded metal shavings near vital wiring for flight controls. As a whistleblower, he alerted the company that such debris could sever wires and lead to catastrophic failures in flight. He also flagged issues with the oxygen systems on Boeing’s 787 aircraft, estimating that up to 25 percent were flawed.

As stated in the lawsuit, Barnett consistently raised his safety concerns to his Boeing supervisors before going public with his warnings. The lawsuit claims that Boeing’s management disregarded his concerns and retaliated against him.

The allegations include Boeing deliberately providing Barnett with incorrect and unfavorable performance assessments, assigning him less desirable shifts, and publicly attributing production delays to him, which upset his coworkers. This situation allegedly hindered Barnett from transferring to a different facility within the organization.

This treatment reportedly led to Barnett developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as noted by his family. His mental health progressively deteriorated due to what his attorneys described as relentless pressure and humiliation imposed by Boeing. They assert that Boeing’s actions directly contributed to Barnett’s severe depression, anxiety attacks, and ultimately, his suicide.

“Boeing threatened to break John, and break him it did,” the attorneys stated in their court filing.

As of now, Boeing has not issued any responses in court documents.

“We are saddened by John Barnett’s death and extend our condolences to his family,” the company expressed in a statement earlier this week.

Barnett’s family is pursuing unspecified damages from Boeing for the emotional distress and mental anguish attributed to the company’s alleged misconduct. They are also requesting compensation for lost wages—including back pay and projected earnings over the next 10 years—as well as bonuses Barnett would have earned had he remained employed. Furthermore, they seek reimbursement for medical expenses connected to his declining mental health condition and recovery of lost life insurance benefits resulting from his demise.

“Whether or not Boeing meant to drive John to his death or merely incapacitate him, it was entirely foreseeable that PTSD and John’s unbearable depression, panic attacks, and anxiety would elevate the risk of suicide,” the lawsuit states. “Boeing may not have pulled the trigger, but its conduct was a clear and foreseeable cause of John’s death.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

From NTD News