The family of former Boeing quality control manager John Barnett filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the aviation giant on Thursday, alleging the company engaged in systematic harassment and intimidation that ultimately led to Barnett’s suicide, according to attorneys representing the family in a wrongful death lawsuit.
Police said that Barnett, 62, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on March 9, 2024, in Charleston, South Carolina. At the time of his death, Barnett lived in Louisiana.
His death occurred shortly after he spent multiple days responding to intense questioning by attorneys regarding his whistleblower claims against Boeing, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in South Carolina, accuses Boeing of orchestrating a “campaign of harassment, abuse and intimidation intended to discourage, discredit and humiliate him until he would either give up or be discredited,” according to the lawsuit.
Barnett retired from Boeing in 2017 after serving as a quality control manager for many years. Following his retirement, he publicly raised concerns about alleged safety defects involving Boeing’s jumbo jets.
Specifically, Barnett claimed he observed discarded metal shavings near critical wiring for flight controls. As a whistleblower, he warned such debris could potentially sever wires and trigger catastrophic failures during flight. He also reported issues with oxygen systems aboard Boeing’s 787 aircraft, estimating that up to 25 percent were problematic.
According to the lawsuit, before going public with his warnings, Barnett repeatedly told his supervisors at Boeing about the safety concerns. The lawsuit alleges that Boeing management ignored his concerns and instead retaliated against him.
The lawsuit alleges Boeing intentionally gave Barnett inaccurate and negative performance evaluations, assigned him less favorable shifts, and publicly blamed him for production delays that upset coworkers. This reportedly prevented Barnett from transferring to another facility within the company.
Such treatment reportedly caused Barnett to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to his family. His mental health gradually worsened over time due to what attorneys described as relentless pressure and humiliation inflicted by Boeing. The attorneys argue that Boeing’s actions directly led to Barnett’s severe depression, anxiety attacks, and, ultimately, his suicide.
“Boeing had threatened to break John, and break him it did,” the attorneys wrote in their court filing.
Boeing has not yet responded in court filings.
“We are saddened by John Barnett’s death and extend our condolences to his family,” the company said in a statement this week.
Barnett’s family seeks unspecified damages from Boeing for emotional distress and mental anguish caused by the company’s alleged misconduct. They are also requesting compensation for lost wages—including back pay and projected earnings over 10 years—as well as bonuses Barnett would have earned had he continued working. Additionally, they seek reimbursement for medical expenses related to his deteriorating mental health condition and recovery of lost life insurance benefits resulting from his death.
“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 said. “Boeing may not have pulled the trigger, but Boeing’s conduct was the clear cause, and the clear foreseeable cause, of John’s death.”
NTD reached out to Boeing for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
