'A brave, honest man': Boeing whistleblower's attorneys release ...

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC/AP) - The attorneys of a former Boeing employee who raised concerns about the company’s production standards have released a statement as an investigation into his death this weekend continues.

John Barnett, 62, from Louisiana was found dead in his vehicle outside a Charleston hotel on Saturday morning. Barnett, who worked for Boeing for 32 years, filed a whistleblower complaint alleging safety concerns. The United States Department of Labor was working through the discovery phase of its investigation and is set to begin hearings on that complaint this June.

Barnett’s attorneys, Robert Turkewitz of the Law Office of Robert M. Turkewitz, LLC and Brian Knowles of Knowles Law Firm, PC, released the following statement Tuesday afternoon:

John was a brave, honest man of the highest integrity. He cared dearly about his family, his friends, the Boeing company, his Boeing co-workers, and the pilots and people who flew on Boeing aircraft. We have rarely met someone with a more sincere and forthright character.

In the course of his job as a quality manager at Boeing South Carolina, John learned of and exposed very serious safety problems with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and was retaliated against and subjected to a hostile work environment, which is the subject of his pending AIR-21 case.

John was in the midst of a deposition in his whistleblower retaliation case, which finally was nearing the end. He was in very good spirits and really looking forward to putting this phase of his life behind him and moving on. We didn’t see any indication he would take his own life. No one can believe it.

We are all devasted. We need more information about what happened to John. The Charleston police need to investigate this fully and accurately and tell the public what they find out. No detail can be left unturned.

Police discovered Barnett after welfare check requested

Police said officers found Barnett in his orange 2015 Dodge Ram truck dead from a gunshot wound to the head Saturday morning. Police were sent to the Holiday Inn on Savannah Highway shortly before 10:20 a.m. to perform a welfare check, Sgt. Anthony Gibson said. Police say a friend named Rob called police to request that they check on Barnett.

Officers found the truck in the hotel’s back parking lot, an incident report states.

Charleston County Coroner Bobbi Jo O’Neal said Barnett died Saturday “from what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.” Police said Barnett had a silver handgun in his right hand with his finger still on the trigger and had suffered an apparent gunshot wound to his right temple.

An employee told police they heard a “pop” sound near the car a less than an hour before police arrived, but the employee said they didn’t think anything of it. Police also noted there was a white piece of paper “resembling a note” on the passenger seat of that car.

The report did not specify the contents of the note, but Dr. Kenny Kinsey, a criminal justice expert who testified during the Alex Murdaugh murder trial, said that depending on what police found, it could either mean the end of the investigation or just the beginning.

“Detectives are actively investigating this case and are awaiting the formal cause of death, along with any additional findings that might shed further light on the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr. Barnett,” Sgt. Anthony Gibson said in a statement. “We understand the global attention this case has garnered, and it is our priority to ensure that the investigation is not influenced by speculation but is led by facts and evidence.”

Family: Barnett suffered from PTSD, anxiety after working for company

Barnett retired from Boeing back in 2017. He worked at Boeing’s North Charleston location from 2010 until his retirement. Barnett’s wife, Diane Johnson, who died in November of 2022, worked for Boeing for 28 years.

He reportedly alerted managers about the company using sub-standard parts and oxygen systems with serious problems on several occasions. Those managers allegedly took no action to fix the issues and Boeing denied Barnett’s claims, the BBC reported.

John Barnett. 62, was found dead in his vehicle Saturday morning outside a Charleston hotel, police said. Investigators said he died from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.(TMZ via MGN)

Barnett was a longtime Boeing employee and worked as a quality-control manager before he retired in 2017. In the years after that, he shared his concerns with journalists.

“John 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,” Barnett’s brother, Rodney, said in a family statement to The Associated Press on Tuesday. “He said that Boeing had a culture of concealment and was putting profits over safety.”

Rodney Barnett said working at Boeing created stress for John.

“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 brother said.

Boeing, in a one-sentence statement, said, “We are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends.”

In 2019, Barnett told The New York Times about quality issues at Boeing’s factory in South Carolina, where the 787 jetliner is assembled.

Barnett said he found discarded metal shavings near wiring for the flight controls. He said it could have been “catastrophic” if the sharp pieces had pierced the wiring. He said after he complained to superiors, they moved him to another part of the plant.

Barnett told the BBC that same year that up to a quarter of the oxygen systems on the 787 – a two-aisle plane that airlines use mostly for international flights – might not work because of faulty parts installed at the Boeing plant. Boeing denied the claim.

Whistleblower complaint set to be heard in June

The United States Department of Labor set a schedule for a hearing of Barnett’s whistleblower complaint, according to documents.

Barnett was in the midst of giving evidence in a whistleblower lawsuit against Boeing, the BBC reported.

On several occasions, Barnett reported about the company using sub-standard parts, and oxygen systems with serious problems. Barnett reportedly alerted managers who took no action to fix the issues.

Boeing denied Barnett’s claims.

Barnett filed a complaint on Jan. 16, 2017, with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration alleging Boeing retaliated against him in violation of the Employee Protection Provisions Act.

Barnett claims Boeing subjected him to a hostile work environment for engaging in whistleblower-protected activity, which caused severe stress that led Barnett to take medical leave and early retirement.

Boeing tried to dismiss Barnett’s claims, arguing he did not present facts sufficient to prove his claims. But the judge denied Boeing’s partial motion to dismiss on March 31, 2022.

On Nov. 14, 2023, Barnett filed a motion to compel discovery, a move to ask the court to enforce a request for information relevant to a case.

Court documents state Boeing’s efforts to identify records of other complaints made by other employees at the South Carolina location of adverse actions taken in response to reports of safety or quality violations are woefully lacking. The judge adds that Boeing has had the requests for over a year.

The judge ruled on Dec. 21, 2023, that Boeing must produce the documents sought by Barnett.

The discovery phase was set to be completed by March 30 with a formal hearing set to take place during the week of June 24, documents from the Department of Labor state.

The formal hearing was scheduled for 9 a.m. from June 24-28 in Charleston.

It’s unclear where the case now stands.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved.