Boeing Execs Vowed to ‘Permanently Silence’ Whistleblower Before His Suspicious Death

Boeing executives vowed to “permanently silence” whistleblower John Barnett before his suspicious death, his grieving family claims in a bombshell lawsuit against the aviation giant.

The 62-year-old was found dead in his truck outside a Holiday Inn in Charleston, South Carolina, in March 2024, just days before he was set to testify against Boeing in a suit he’d filed over safety concerns.

Ruled a suicide, his note reportedly read “f**k Boeing.” Now, his family’s wrongful death suit in South Carolina accuses Boeing of harassing and intimidating their 32-year veteran employee after he spoke out, alleging a pattern of retaliation that drove him to his breaking point.

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Dailymail.co.uk reports: Barnett was employed as a quality manager at the airline for 32 years before he retired in 2017. 

In 2019, he went public with his allegations against the company, claiming under-pressure workers were deliberately fitting sub-standard parts to aircraft on the assembly line.

The suit states: ‘The weight of years of harassment, abuse and humiliation became too much for John to bear, and he took his own life.’

‘Boeing may not have pulled the trigger, but Boeing’s conduct was the clear cause, and the clear foreseeable cause, of John’s death.’

The suit states that Barnett was suffering from PTSD, depression and anxiety as a direct result of the treatment he received from his former employer.

It states that Barnett’s managers isolated him and threatened to ‘push you until you break.’

Barnett’s devastated family are seeking compensation, back pay and lost future pay and benefits.

They’re also seeking an unspecified sum for emotional distress and legal fees. 

Boeing did not comment on the lawsuit specifically, but has previously maintained that it never retaliated against him.

The airline states that the issues Barnett raised were fixed, and that employees are encouraged to raise their concerns.

Elsewhere in his suicide note, Barnett said ‘I pray Boeing pays’ and criticized the whistleblowers protection program. 

Barnett had driven to Charleston from his home in Louisiana. He had already started his deposition and was due to restart at 10 am on the day he died.  

Barnett had said in his complaint that he raised the issue of Boeing’s ‘deep-rooted and persistent culture of concealment’ multiple times to his superiors. He accused the company of not documenting and fixing problems.

In retaliation for his complaints, Barnett claimed he was given low scores on performance reports, isolated and forbidden from transferring out of South Carolina.

He says he was ‘treated with scorn and contempt by upper management.’ 

Low scores on performance reviews can affect an employees changes of earning a raise or gaining promotion. Prior to making complaints, Barnett said he was a ‘top performer’ at the Boeing plant in North Charleston.