Former Boeing employee John Barnett, who questioned the aircraft manufacturer’s production standards, was discovered dead in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. The 62-year-old died of a “self-inflicted” gunshot wound on March 9. Barnett was in Charleston for legal interviews and was slated for further questioning. Following his disappearance, he was discovered dead. He left Boeing in 2017 owing to health problems, after more than 30 years of service.
John Barnett’s family has blamed the company’s “hostile work environment” for his death
Barnett’s family has now blamed the company’s “hostile work environment” for his death, as per a report in the New York Post. They said, “He was suffering from PTSD and anxiety attacks as a result of being subjected to the hostile work environment at Boeing, which we believe led to his death.”
The 62-year-old’s family said that he was happily working for the aviation giant until 2010 when he was moved to the 787 plant in Charleston. “Things greatly changed for him when he learned that upper management was pressuring the quality inspectors and managers to cut corners and not to follow processes and procedures which they were required by law to comply,” the family stated.
They claimed that to keep the assembly line moving, Boeing pressured employees to overlook faults, and those who refused “were labeled as troublemakers, retaliated against, and subjected to a hostile work environment.”
The job he once loved became stressful
Barnett told his family that it was a battle for him to get the management to do the right thing. The family continued, “He was deeply concerned about the safety of the aircraft and flying public, and had identified some serious defects that he felt were not adequately addressed. He said that Boeing had a culture of concealment and was putting profits over safety,” they added.
“The job he once loved became so stressful, that Barnett’s doctor became concerned for his health. It caused him so much stress that his doctor told him that if he stayed, he would have a heart attack,” the statement said.
Boeing released a statement and said, “We are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends.” It refrained from addressing the points raised in his family’s statement.
Barnett had recently testified in a whistleblower lawsuit against the US airplane manufacturer, which has faced several safety issues in recent years, including the fatal Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019, which killed over 350 people.
In 2019, John told the BBC that “under-pressure workers” were intentionally installing “sub-standard parts” on Boeing airplanes on the production line.
Barnett claimed to have discovered major flaws with oxygen systems, which might mean that one in every four breathing masks would fail in an emergency. He also told the BBC that staff had failed to follow processes designed to track components throughout the production, resulting in defective components going missing. He said that he had alerted managers about the concerns, but they did not take any action.
