mother Boeing whistleblower Earlier this month, police found John Barnett dead in his truck after he missed a deposition related to a lawsuit against the jet maker. He placed some of the blame on the aerospace giant as police continued to investigate his apparent suicide.
Barnett is suing Boeing, claiming he was retaliated, harassed and surveilled by the company and that he failed to show up for a second day of testimony earlier this month.
His lawyer started making phone calls and hotel staff found him dead in the parking lot.
Boeing whistleblower John Barnett was spied on, harassed by manager, sued
Boeing whistleblower John Barnett spoke publicly about the company’s practices in January 2024. (TMZ)
“If this hadn’t gone on for this long, I would still have my sons, my sons would have their brothers, and we wouldn’t be sitting here,” Vicki Stokes told reporters. cbs news.
His brother Rodney Barnett said in the same interview that the former Boeing quality control engineer was not the type to back down and continued to speak out in meetings despite an allegedly hostile work environment. Worry.
His persistence was part of the reason for the coroner’s initial assessment that his death was an apparent suicide, according to his attorneys and family.
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One of Barnett’s attorneys, Robert Turkowitz, told “Jesse Waters Primetime” earlier this week that he doesn’t believe the aerospace giant had anything to do with his client’s death — however, he added Say, “That doesn’t make sense.” He will kill himself.
Police are still investigating.
A Boeing employee works on the rear of a 787 Dreamliner at the Boeing manufacturing plant in North Charleston, South Carolina, on December 13, 2022. Whistleblower John Barnett was found dead in South Carolina in March 2024. (Logan Sellers/AFP via Getty Images)
“We’re waiting for the police department and the coroner to issue a report on what they believe happened,” Turkwitz said.
One of Barnett’s friends claimed in an interview with local media that Barnett told her, “If anything happens to me, it’s Not suicide“.
Charleston police previously told Fox News Digital: “Detectives are actively investigating this case and are awaiting an official cause of death, as well as the results of any additional investigations that may further shed light on the circumstances surrounding Mr. Barnett’s death.”
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The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is being built on May 30, 2023, at the airline’s assembly plant in North Charleston, South Carolina. The facility is located on the joint-use grounds of Charleston Air Force Base and Charleston International Airport. (Juliet Michel/AFP via Getty Images)
In January of this year, Barnett tell TMZ He worries Boeing is returning its 737 Max 9 jets to the skies too quickly after a door panel on an Alaska Airlines jet exploded mid-flight.
Unrelated to Barnett’s retaliation lawsuit, Boeing has been working to address safety issues with its 737 Max aircraft in recent weeks.CEO Dave Calhoun announced he will step down End of the year.
Other executives and board members, including the head of the 737 Max program, also left the company over the incident.
NTSB says safety video of work on Boeing jet with failed door plug unavailable
Barnett worked for Boeing for more than three decades, retiring in 2017 as a quality control engineer. In 2019, he told British Broadcasting Corporation Boeing will rush to take its 787 Dreamliner off the assembly line, jeopardizing safety.
He claimed that emergency oxygen systems on planes have a failure rate of 25%. This means that if the cabin is suddenly depressurized, a quarter of the 787 Dreamliners could rapidly lose oxygen, causing passengers to suffocate.
Charleston police are still investigating the death of Barnett, who weeks ago missed a deposition appointment in a lawsuit against Boeing and was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in his truck in a hotel parking lot. (Charleston Police Department)
Barnett said he learned of the problem while working at Boeing’s North Charleston plant in 2010 and claimed he raised the issue with management, but to no avail. His attorneys claimed that instead of addressing the issue, the company retaliated against him and subjected him to a hostile work environment, leading to the lawsuit that resulted in his removal.
this Federal Aviation Administration A 2017 review of Boeing confirmed some of Barnett’s allegations and ordered the company to take action.
“We are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing and our thoughts are with his family and friends,” Boeing told Fox Business in a statement.
If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)