Boeing whistleblower’s estate blames company for death in new lawsuit

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – The estate of a man who brought to light safety concerns at Boeing’s South Carolina facility filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday claiming the aerospace giant is responsible for the man’s death. 

62-year-old John Barnett was found dead on March 9, 2024,  inside his vehicle from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the Holiday Inn parking lot off Savannah Highway, according to the Charleston County Coroner’s Office. 

The Louisiana native was in Charleston for depositions related to his ongoing whistleblower lawsuit against his former employer. 

The 32-year Boeing veteran had worked at Boeing’s Everett facility before being transferred to the North Charleston site to head up the new 787 program.

Barnett’s whistleblower complaint detailed issues like employees being pressured to violate FAA standards by not fixing part defects resulting in incomplete build records, implementing a program that allowed mechanics to inspect and approve their work, and engineers not documenting foreign object debris found in panels and electrical components. 

When Barnett reported the concerns, he was the subject “of harassment, abuse, and intimidation intended to discourage, discredit, and humiliate him” by upper management, the suit claims. 

Not only was he harassed, but Boeing superiors demoted him, blacklisted him from other divisions, and socially isolated him from his team. In early 2017, a doctor diagnosed Barnett with PTSD as a result of the ongoing attacks, documents state.

During a hearing on Boeing’s “Broken Safety Culture” by the Permanent Sub-Committee on Investigations of the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs, it was revealed one of Barnett’s senior managers called him 19 times within 8 hours in late October 2016, and then 21 times within 8 hours a few days later.

In one of the calls, the manager said, “I’m going to push you until you break,” filings said. US Senator Richard Blumenthal told then Boeing CEO David Calhoun that the company was successful and “[John] broke.”

Barnett retired from Boeing due to the retaliation and moved back to Louisiana to be closer to his family in March 2017. 

According to the suit, the retaliation continued. When Barnett was in Charleston for the deposition, he made plans to meet up with two friends, but the friends ended up canceling, telling Barnett that Boeing advised them to have zero contact with him.

On March 4, 2024, Barnett went to see a mental health counselor, where he expressed he was having nightmares of people dying in planes and intrusive thoughts. 

Barnett had reported similar nightmares in the past, but the occurrences increased after a door blew out of a 737 Max flight while it was midair in January 2024.

When law enforcement found Barnett, they also found a note that the suit says, “demonstrates the retaliation, harassment, and maltreatment he experienced at the hands of Boeing caused his PTSD, which, in turn, caused his suicide and untimely death.”