Boeing Whistleblower Found Dead in Apparent Suicide

A Boeing quality manager for more than 30 years 'learned of and exposed very serious safety problems with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner,' according to his lawyers, 'and was retaliated against and subjected to a hostile work environment.'

After retiring in 2017 he'd filed a whistleblower retaliation case, and 'was in the middle of giving deposition testimony... when he died, his lawyers, Robert Turkewitz and Brian Knowles, told NPR.'

'He was in very good spirits and really looking forward to putting this phase of his life behind him and moving on,' the South Carolina-based attorneys said in a joint statement. 'We didn't see any indication he would take his own life. No one can believe it.'

Police said officers were sent to the hotel to conduct a welfare check after people were unable to contact Barnett, who had traveled to Charleston to testify in his lawsuit against Boeing. 'Upon their arrival, officers discovered a male inside a vehicle suffering from a gunshot wound to the head,' police said in a statement sent to NPR. 'He was pronounced deceased at the scene....'

Barnett, who spent decades working for Boeing at its plants in Everett, Washington, and North Charleston, South Carolina, had repeatedly alleged that Boeing's manufacturing practices had declined — and that rather than improve them, he added, managers had pressured workers not to document potential defects and problems.

'We are saddened by Mr. Barnett's passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends,' Boeing said in a statement sent to NPR....

Barnett filed a whistleblower complaint against Boeing in early 2017; his case against the company was heading toward a trial this June, his family said. 'He was looking forward to having his day in court and hoped that it would force Boeing to change its culture,' the family said in a statement shared with NPR by his brother, Rodney Barnett. The family says Barnett's health declined because of the stresses of taking a stand against his longtime employer.

'He was suffering from PTSD and anxiety attacks as a result of being subjected to the hostile work environment at Boeing,' they said, 'which we believe led to his death.'
'Two of his attorneys called on police to fully investigate how he had died,' reports the BBC.

And for what it's worth, the New York Post says Barnett 'made a grim prediction that he could potentially end up dead after raising safety concerns about the jetliner giant, allegedly telling a family friend: 'If anything happens, it's not suicide.''

UPDATE: Fortune just published an article called 'The last days of the Boeing whistleblower.'

Thanks to Slashdot readers wgoodman and sinij for sharing the article.

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