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Transportation

Boeing Whistleblower Found Dead in Apparent Suicide (npr.org) 148

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.
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Boeing Whistleblower Found Dead in Apparent Suicide

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  • by ghoul ( 157158 ) on Sunday March 17, 2024 @11:39AM (#64322103)
    The US military probably realized its a hit to national security if Boeing goes bankrupt.
    • by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 17, 2024 @11:48AM (#64322135)

      Boeing essentially is a mercenary branch of the US government.

      This was not a suicide, it was a warning. Nothing will be found.

    • by Archtech ( 159117 ) on Sunday March 17, 2024 @12:35PM (#64322229)

      My reaction exactly. I don't see corporate management ordering a hit like this. But for the CIA it would be business as usual. Remember Gary Webb who was found shot twice in the head; it was ruled suicide.

      • by Viol8 ( 599362 ) on Sunday March 17, 2024 @12:44PM (#64322257) Homepage

        Given the whistle had already been blown what would be the point? Sure, if none of the stuff had yet come out it would make sense but the FAA is all over Boeing now so whats to be gained? Officila revenge? Oh please.

        • by ffkom ( 3519199 ) on Sunday March 17, 2024 @12:51PM (#64322271)
          People perceived as "traitors" by governments are killed all the time, if only to intimidate others not to follow their example. In Russia, they fall from windows, in China, they "disappear", in the US they are found shot. It does not matter whether they themselves could spill any additional information.
        • by vivian ( 156520 ) on Sunday March 17, 2024 @01:13PM (#64322337)

          Given the whistle had already been blown what would be the point?

          According to TFA, he "was in the middle of giving deposition testimony".
          Perhaps someone didn't want him to finish his testimony, or be available for whatever the next thing in legal proceedings that happens after that?

          • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

            Note to whistleblowers. If you intend to do this, make sure someone else has the information you are willing to proffer, e.g. give a lawyer your notes, and make sure that it is publicly known that you did so.

            It's only worth killing you if it will stop the release of information or make prosecution significantly harder, so don't keep it all in your head until the deposition or trial.

            • Note to whistleblowers. If you intend to do this, make sure someone else has the information you are willing to proffer, e.g. give a lawyer your notes, and make sure that it is publicly known that you did so.

              It's only worth killing you if it will stop the release of information or make prosecution significantly harder, so don't keep it all in your head until the deposition or trial.

              No, it's still worth killing someone even if they've already handed all their pertinent information off to someone else. It's a warning shot to other would-be whistleblowers. A single whistleblower can be fought against. A whole group of them is much harder to fend-off. Destroy the appeal of blowing the whistle by making it clear that you will have an "accident" and far fewer people would ever think to step forward.

              Gonna be interesting watching what happens with Boeing with all the current legal balls they

        • I seem to recall reading that he was scheduled to testify again?

        • Maybe there is even more damaging allegations about to come out and his death, no matter how convenient the timing, may be "easier to handle" compared to the actual new allegation.

          Of course I have no idea if that is the case or if there are any more allegations about to come out.

      • by Slashythenkilly ( 7027842 ) on Sunday March 17, 2024 @01:51PM (#64322421)
        Boeing has more reason than anyone to silence a whistle blower that will jeopardize billions in R&D and government contracts. This isnt one of a handful of companies that makes a few aircraft, this is the company. Suicide is the one death for which there are no leads, no more investigations made passed the initial ruling so the case is closed. Its far too convenient timing to be anything else.
        • And? So what? They killed a guy. Who cares? You? You don't matter. Neither do I. Just sit there, smile, and say, please sir, may I have another?". This is just the way it is. Smile and accept it... or don't. It doesn't matter because you don't matter. You could be next if you speak too much. :)

      • by clovis ( 4684 )

        My guess is that it was someone taking advantage of an opportunity to manipulate Boeing's stock price for a few days.

      • by adrn01 ( 103810 )
        Or possibly by the same workers who were harassing him when he was still at Boeing. Nothing like a well-paid employee fearing that a whistleblower may cost him his job to set things in motion. A few Trump-like messages from management to a few key employees might have been all that was needed.
    • The US military also has an interest in receiving planes that don't fall apart. Even if we assume that this was murder, it seems like quite a leap to go straight to a third party with an abstract motivation. Boeing has plenty of executives of its own, and these were the people who this guy was blowing the whistle on. Some of them would have a direct personal motivation to silence him.

      Why would you skip over the most obvious choices and go straight to assuming some kind of military conspiracy?
    • The US military probably realized its a hit to national security if Boeing goes bankrupt.

      Why would they care? They could just bail out the company. I agree with your premise but it's absurd to think that this kind of situation would lead to an assassination.

    • Umm, couldn't they just bail them out with public money, like they did with the automakers, the banks, the mortgage lenders...etc. etc. etc.?
    • The US military probably realized its a hit to national security if Boeing goes bankrupt.

      Ummm, if Boeing products are no longer reliable, then the hit to National Security has already been taken. Failing to realize that will be the downfall of national security.

  • suicide by ... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by harvey the nerd ( 582806 ) on Sunday March 17, 2024 @11:48AM (#64322137)
    It's suicide by proxy. He got himself Boeingked...
    Cf. Jeffrey Epstein, Vince Foster, Henry Marshall DoA (Dept of Agriculture)
    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      Let's not forget Seth Richards (Hillary Clinton 's IT guy) seems he was shot in a botched robbery attempt. Something about emails and leaks.

      • Re:suicide by ... (Score:5, Informative)

        by quantaman ( 517394 ) on Sunday March 17, 2024 @12:12PM (#64322193)

        Let's not forget Seth Richards (Hillary Clinton 's IT guy) seems he was shot in a botched robbery attempt. Something about emails and leaks.

        You mean Seth Rich [wikipedia.org], an employee of the DNC who was murdered in a suspected mugging.

        And then GRU along with a bunch of "disgusting sociopaths" (quote from his family) in the US decided to exploit his death by claiming he was the one who leaked the emails.

        I mean that's a pretty special kind of assholery, a young man is murdered, and you start jumping with joy at the chance to lie about his beliefs and use his death to destroy the things he fought for.

        "Disgusting sociopath" sounds about right.

        • No kidding, I did believe that he was the leaker. Never heard anything to the contrary, this is the first time. I am disgusted more by the behavior of the political animals than anything else.

          • Re:suicide by ... (Score:5, Informative)

            by jacks smirking reven ( 909048 ) on Sunday March 17, 2024 @01:52PM (#64322425)

            Never heard anything to the contrary, this is the first time.

            7 years ago

            The Seth Rich conspiracy shows how fake news still works [washingtonpost.com]

            TV news can be an easy mark. This iteration of the Seth Rich story started when the District's own Fox 5 ran a Monday night “exclusive,” citing one source — a Fox New legal commentator, Rod Wheeler — for a “big break in the investigation.” Reporter Marina Marraco reported that “conspiracy theories” could “be proven right,” as Wheeler was saying what had been rumored since last year: Rich might have leaked DNC emails to WikiLeaks, making him the target of an assassination.

            “You have information that could link Seth Rich to WikiLeaks?” asked Marraco.

            “Absolutely. Yeah. That's confirmed,” said Wheeler, who Fox 5 identified as the Rich family's investigator.

            Within 24 hours, reporters at NBC News, CNN and The Washington Post had debunked the story. First, Rich's family quickly corrected the idea that Wheeler was on their payroll; he was hired by Ed Butowsky, a Texas businessman who had grown interested in the case. Next, Wheeler told CNN he hadn't actually obtained information linking Rich to WikiLeaks — Fox 5, he insisted, had told him to say so.

            Marraco did not cite any sources except Wheeler — not the Rich family, not D.C. police, not the mayor's office, not the DNC. Wheeler, a very occasional TV pundit, was noticeably skimpy on details, suggesting he had a source who'd told him eyeball-to-eyeball that Rich's computer was in lock-up and that it had evidence of WikiLeaks contact. But he was murky on whether D.C. police or the FBI allegedly had the laptop, and the family quickly reported that neither did.

            • Within 24 hours, reporters at NBC News, CNN and The Washington Post had debunked the story. First, Rich's family quickly corrected the idea that Wheeler was on their payroll; he was hired by Ed Butowsky, a Texas businessman who had grown interested in the case. Next, Wheeler told CNN he hadn't actually obtained information linking Rich to WikiLeaks â" Fox 5, he insisted, had told him to say so.

              Now why would a businessman from Texas be involved in all of this? Hm.

          • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

            by quantaman ( 517394 )

            No kidding, I did believe that he was the leaker. Never heard anything to the contrary, this is the first time. I am disgusted more by the behavior of the political animals than anything else.

            So, I'm glad you updated your beliefs in the face of evidence.

            But I think you also need to readjust some of your priors about the likelihood of certain events.

            I assume you've heard of Watergate? It's basically senior officials in Nixon's Whitehouse orchestrated a breakin and wiretapping of the DNC headquarters, they got arrested, Nixon tried to cover it up, was forced to resign, and even the fact that his successor pardoned him was controversial.

            It's basically the biggest US political scandal of all time an

  • are not calling questions about his death a conspiracy theory.

    Slashdotters, you've come a long way since covid.
    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Ol Olsoc ( 1175323 )

      are not calling questions about his death a conspiracy theory. Slashdotters, you've come a long way since covid.

      Citizen! It is a very good thing that you see through the web of lies promoted by the illuminati, and the Democrats. We have the proof, and will be presenting it any day now .

      Pizzagate is real - Hellary Clinton and magick Negro Nigerian citizen Barack O'Blama operated Pizzagate which had an Elon Musk provided hyperloop to Area 51 where the faked moon landings were shot, where they harvested the blood of virgin children to put in the chemtrail juice that Biden has ben poisoning the precious fluids of Amer

    • The Boeing hit doesn't qualify as a conspiracy theory--yet.

      I define a conspiracy theory as: A belief that a conviction should occur, in the absence of a credible indictment.

      Since the coroner hasn't even issued a report yet AFAIK, this can't be a conspiracy yet. Note also that in order to be a conspiracy theory by my definition, mere suspicion is not sufficient. You must *believe* whole heartedly that the crime occurred. Thus, you can be suspicious of Epstein's death and not be a conspiracy theorist. I

    • by PPH ( 736903 )

      so many Slashdot comments

      Too many to be mere coincidence. It must be a conspiracy.

  • Jail Boeing (Score:2, Interesting)

    Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun should go to jail along with the rest of their C-levels. The culture and precedent of the footsoldiers solely getting into legal trouble needs to end. They were empowered and incentivized by their superiors, and this will keep happening if full accountability measures are not taken. This is inexcusable, especially since RICO is a law.
  • With cameras everywhere in this day and age, whoever is investigating this damn well better be on the trail of a suspect already or they're in on it.
    • by skam240 ( 789197 )

      They have a suspect, it's a suspected suicide.

      • I repeat: Fuck nope. Not unless video footage shows him alone the whole time.
        • by skam240 ( 789197 )

          I prefer speculating on evidence rather than attaching myself to conspiracy. I'll wait for the facts to come through on this.

          • What evidence are you claiming I'm ignoring?
            • by skam240 ( 789197 )

              None, maybe go back and reread my post

              • Then it just depends to what extent the circumstances are considered evidence. The safety of whistleblowers against large, wealthy, politically connected organizations is a universally recognized concern.
      • by jd ( 1658 )

        Correction, they have declared a suspect, himself.

        The correlation between what they have and what they say is unknown at this point. It could be that that's exactly what they have. It could be that it's what they want to have. And it could be that it's what they want a potential suspect to think they have.

        At this point in the game, all we know is what they're saying. What they're thinking may or may not be related.

        It's also important to note that police forces have finite resources. If they think any likely

    • Inb4 they discover that the cameras are there, but the footage is not...
  • by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 17, 2024 @12:07PM (#64322187)

    A suicide of a law-abiding, job holding gun owner would be with a nice, well-maintained gun purchased long ago by the victim, with background check records of the sale, and ammo that matches a half-full box back home, and fingerprints on the brass cases. A hit would be with an unregistered gun, probably junk, no matching ammo at vic's house, no fingerprints on the magazine/cylinder/brass cases.

    • I can see why you posted Anonymously. Oh my lord you are special. Or you are the dumbest propaganda agent this side of the Solar System. Your logic is astute and unassailable. ROFLMAO

  • He had information that could lead to the arrest of Hillary Rodham Clinton

    • Have you looked in Hunter’s laptop for those missing emails?

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        Most people don't know this (yet), but Hillary's basement email server was actually running on Hunter Biden's laptop!

        It was also acting as the controller for the video cameras in the prison wing where Jeffrey Epstein died. But you don't hear about that because Epstein's final visitor was Donald Trump himself...

      • There are no emails. They were cleaned with a cloth.

    • Don't believe everything you hear at Putin rallies.
  • They could assemble an outside panel of experts to examine the safety concerns, but they would probably go missing too.
  • Suuuuure. Obvious suicide. No need to ask questions.

    • by jd ( 1658 )

      I think it safe to say that the number of police in Mensa isn't reflective of their percentage of the population.

      I also think it safe to say that in election years, nobody wants to accuse a major political donor who might donate to the wrong person. Remember, police chiefs and judges are elected in much of the US.

      And it's also pretty safe to say, in times of economic hardship, police aren't going to invest lots of resources into cases they're not confident they can score a court victory on. They're going to

      • by PPH ( 736903 )

        I think it safe to say that the number of police in Mensa isn't reflective of their percentage of the population.

        Mensa membership will get you disqualified as a candidate in some police departments.

  • by williamyf ( 227051 ) on Sunday March 17, 2024 @01:04PM (#64322315)

    if you do not kill yourself. Comply ASAP or else....

  • by Anonymous Coward

    The cold, hard fact is that it was not a suicide. And even his relatives have come forward to say that because he the whistleblower himself, was worried about being assassinated in retaliation for his whistle blowing. And he even made it public knowledge among his family to make sure they knew that when he was taken out, that they knew it wasn't a suicide.

    https://www.vanguardngr.com/20... [vanguardngr.com]

  • The mafioso is being questioned.
    The prosecutor asks, how did Mr Scavatelli die?
    The guy answers, "he cut himself while shaving"
    The prosecutor replies, "27 times? In the back?"

  • by mandark1967 ( 630856 ) on Sunday March 17, 2024 @02:52PM (#64322557) Homepage Journal

    He had cranial decompression, courtesy of Boeing.

  • by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Sunday March 17, 2024 @04:21PM (#64322797)

    The New York Post is worth nothing. In paper format it's worth something, you could use it for toilet paper. But I long for a Slashdot that would rather write nothing than link to a horrendously unreliable tabloid rag (in the actual sense of the word, not like the Fox news readers who don't like CNN).

    • by 0xG ( 712423 )

      So you're saying it didn't happen?

      • You mean that someone published that they heard form someone who heard someone else say that they are worried they are going to be assassinated? All without any verifiable reference to who these mysterious people saying things are?

        Yeah I'm saying that didn't happen. If it did, there may be a verifiable trail. I don't even ask that it be published by someone of repute, just that it's not the equivalent of "I heard from a friend of 0xG that he likes to wear women's clothing".

        My assertion, just like virtually

  • We need tools that any person can use to protect themselves from "life". Easy, portable ways to record anything happening to them... Since even our own memories aren't able to, with 100% objectivity and reliability, record what happens.

    Yes, being able to record "everything" has uses beyond self protection or improvement. But how else are we going to change bad behavior that continues because "nobody can prove it". Or "it's your word against mine". Or "those with the most money can do whatever they want

  • The CEO had seen his decline in person and had reportedly said 'John, if you ever need help, or just someone to talk to, my door is always blown wide open.'

  • I talked to one aerospace engineer who said his company immediately destroyed defective parts so there would be no risk of accidentally installing them.
    On top of that, in any healthy organization it would be unthinkable to install them deliberately.
    On top of that, when someone reported the situation, it should have been corrected immediately.
    On top of that, it is pathological to retaliate against someone for doing his job.
    It is hard to imagine fixing a corporate culture so utterly rotten.

  • In other news thereâ(TM)s been some suspicious activity seen outside the victims house shortly before when a car attempted to quickly drive off but both doors fell off the getaway car.
  • Thank you all for being less "toxic" than HackerNews!

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