Whistleblower’s Family Sues Boeing for Wrongful …

The family of John Barnett, the whistleblower who allegedly committed suicide after he raised safety concerns about the airline’s factories, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the company.

Barnett reportedly shot himself in the temple in his truck in the parking lot of a South Carolina hotel last year after days of a grueling testimony for a lawsuit about Boeing’s safety standards.

His family claimed in the wrongful death lawsuit that Boeing subjected Barnett to a “campaign of harassment, abuse, and intimidation intended to discourage, discredit, and humiliate him until he would either give up or be discredited.”

“Boeing has threatened to break John, and break him it did,” the court papers stated.

Barnett had worked at the company for more than three decades and then retired in 2017. He had reportedly raised many concerns about safety issues, especially when he worked at the company’s Charleston, South Carolina, plant.

The lawsuit claims that Boeing retaliated against Barnett by giving the worker poor job reviews and less desirable shifts. Boeing had also blamed him for delays that upset his coworkers and prevented him from transferring to another plant.

Barnett became a whistleblower after he retired and spoke about his concerns with journalists. However, the stress of his speaking only got worse, and he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“Whether or not Boeing intended to drive John to his death or merely destroy his ability to function, it was absolutely foreseeable that PTSD and John’s unbearable depression, panic attacks, and anxiety, which would in turn lead to an elevated risk of suicide,” the lawsuit stated.

“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 lawsuit continued.

Barnett’s family is asking for compensation for the emotional stress that his suicide caused, ten years of lost future earnings, and other benefits.