John Barnett, a longtime Boeing employee and whistleblower, was found dead in his hotel room while in Charleston, South Carolina to provide testimony in his lawsuit against Boeing alleging ignored safety issues.
Barnett had resigned from Boeing in 2017 due to job stress after filing a complaint with OSHA over safety concerns.
His family believes Boeing is responsible for his death, which occurred while he was cooperating with the ongoing investigation.
“If this hadn’t gone on so long, I’d still have my son, and my sons would have their brother and we wouldn’t be sitting here,” she said. “So in that respect, I do.”
“Over that time, he developed concerns about the way the company was operating. Before resigning, he filed an administrative complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration,” CBS reported. “The agency said it had no reasonable cause to believe Boeing violated whistleblower laws.
“He then filed a lawsuit in 2021, alleging a litany of safety concerns. Among them: stray titanium shavings falling into electrical wiring, defective oxygen tanks and managers urging him to cut corners,” they added.
“He thought of himself as trying to do the right thing,” brother Rodney Barnett said. “And that’s what bothered him, that nobody would listen as to what was going on there.”
Barnett’s lawyers said he tried to save Boeing by exposing issues, but the company attacked whistleblowers instead of addressing problems.
His death is currently under investigation as an apparent suicide, though his family is awaiting full results.
“He wasn’t trying to hurt Boeing,” attorney Rob Turkewitz said. “He was trying to save Boeing.”
“He saw this coming and he said, ‘You know, this is all going to come down on Boeing,’” Turkewitz said.
“That was wearing on him,” he added. “I think it all came back to him.”
“Boeing quit listening to their employees. So every time I’d raise my hand and say, ‘hey we got a problem here’, they would attack the messenger and… and ignore the message,” John Barnett said.
Boeing expressed condolences to Barnett’s family and friends.
“We are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends,” Boeing stated.
