The family of deceased Boeing whistleblower John “Mitch” Barnett has filed a lawsuit blaming the company for his suicide.
The wrongful death lawsuit filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina alleges that Boeing’s conduct towards Barnett “was the clear cause, and the clear foreseeable cause, of [his] death.”
Barnett, a 62-year-old Boeing quality manager, was found dead in his truck in Charleston, South Carolina, in March 2024. The cause of death was later determined to be suicide.
He had worked for Boeing for 32 years, including 17 years as a quality manager – approximately seven of which were at Boeing South Carolina.
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He was suing Boeing under the provisions of the AIR21 Whistleblower Protection Program for alleged retaliation after he raised concerns about quality control issues for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner program.
This was around the time Boeing production practices began undergoing increased scrutiny due to two fatal 737 MAX airplane crashes in 2018 and 2019.
The Federal Aviation Administration started investigations into the manufacturer’s quality control processes after a door plug flew off an Alaska 737 MAX 9 in February 2024, a month before Barnett committed suicide.
Prior to his death, Barnett had been scheduled to take a follow-up deposition regarding his 2020 whistleblower lawsuit against Boeing.
Wednesday’s 146-page legal complaint stated that Barnett had been diagnosed with...
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