The family of a Boeing whistle blower who had raised alarm over the company’s safety flaws and later died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound has filed a lawsuit against the company alleging wrongful death.
John Barnett, 62, of Louisiana, was a former Boeing quality inspector and worked for the aviation giant for more than three decades.
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He died on March 9, 2024. His attorneys at the time said he was in Charleston to testify in a deposition in his federal legal action against Boeing. Charleston police said there was no indication foul play was suspected.
In a civil action complaint filed in Charleston court Wednesday, his family says Barnett was a dedicated employee who found meaning in his job of ensuring plane safety — but his life was turned upside down after he flagged safety issues and Boeing allegedly retaliated and sought to “break him” in a campaign of harassment and intimidation.
The suit accuses the aviation giant of wrongful death and abuse of process.
Barnett had worked for Boeing for 32 years, with 17 of them as a quality manager. Barnett last worked for the company at its 787 plant in North Charleston, known as Boeing South Carolina (BSC).
The complaint said Barnett was proud of his job at Boeing, “took his role seriously in protecting the flying public” and wanted to ensure that “every possible defeat was identified, documented and remedied.”
However, when he tried to document issues, Boeing management allegedly pressured him to ignore defects and not properly document issues in the aircraft build record, all in an effort to avoid production delays, the complaint claimed.
When Barnett persisted, management allegedly harassed, intimidated and sought to discredit him: He was given low performance management scores, was socially isolated and separated from his team, moved to other areas in the plant, and blacklisted from other Boeing divisions, the complaint said.
“John did his best to stay positive and persevere. However, eventually the concerted harassment and abuse were too much,” the complaint said.
In one instance, one of Barnett’s senior managers called him 19 times in an eight-hour period in late October 2016 and 21 times within eight hours a few days later. That manager told him allegedly, “I’m going to push you until you break.”
He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, panic attacks and anxiety in 2017, stemming from “his exposure to BSC’s hostile work environment, and John was forced out of Boeing,” the filing said.
Barnett filed a whistleblower complaint with the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) against Boeing for retaliating against him in January 2017, which is known as the AIR21 case.
Boeing remains under intense public and regulatory scrutiny for a series of aviation incidents.
While John’s OSHA complaint was pending, Boeing “engaged in a scorched-earth series of repeated abuses of process,” that included allegedly failing to comply with court orders to produce documents — some of which would have allegedly confirmed Barnett’s allegations. The court handling the case sanctioned Boeing for its discovery abuse, the complaint said.
In late January 2017, Barnett went on a medical leave of absence due to work related stress, emotional distress, and the alleged hostile work environment.
He had planned to work at Boeing for at least another 10 years, the complaint said, but he was “constructively discharged” on March 1, 2017.
After leaving Boeing, Barrett tried to move on with his life, the complaint said, but on March 9, 2024 “the weight of years of Boeing’s harassment, abuse and humiliation became too much for John to bear, and he took his own life on what was to be the third day of his deposition in the AIR21 case,” the complaint said.
“Boeing had threatened to break John and break him it did,” the filing said.
The complaint included an email Barrett sent on Feb. 28, 2021 that was quoted in the police report in his death in which he detailed the anguish he felt.
“What I am struggling with is, how do you repair or restore a person’s overall outlook on life? I used to be a very happy go lucky guy that loved his job, his Company and the products they built. I had a very positive outlook on life. Boeing has absolutely destroyed my outlook on life. I often sit here and think, what’s the use, what’s the point of life?” the email said.
The suit alleged that Boeing knew its conduct would result in PTSD, Barrett’s depression, panic attacks and anxiety and “would in turn lead to an elevated risk of suicide.”
“Boeing may not have pulled the trigger, but Boeing’s conduct was the clear cause, and the clear foreseeable cause, of John’s death,” the complaint said.
The complaint, filed on behalf of Vicky Stokes, Barnett’s mother, and his brothers Rodney Barnett and Michael Barnett, didn’t detail a specific amount of damages being sought, but seeks relief for financial loss as well as mental and emotional suffering.
NBC News has reached out to Boeing for comment. The company had not filed a response to the lawsuit as of Friday.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
Marlene Lenthang is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.
