A former Boeing employee-turned-whistleblower involved in litigation against the company found dead last week had “made powerful enemies” during his career, a report Friday claims.
John Barnett died on March 9 at the age of 62 from what police described as a “self-inflicted wound.” Prior to his death, he had “been giving evidence in a whistleblower lawsuit against the company,” as Breitbart News reported.
Barnett had retired from the company in 2017 for health reasons after working with Boeing for 32 years.
After parting ways, he embarked on a long-running legal action against the company.
File/Boeing workers are pictured outside a pedestrian gate as Boeing’s 737 factory teams hold the first day of a “Quality Stand Down” for the 737 program at Boeing’s factory in Renton, Washington on January 25, 2024. (JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images)
He accused it of denigrating his character and hampering his career because of the issues he pointed out – charges rejected by Boeing.
The New York Post reports Boeing workers warn the deceased former quality control engineer “made powerful enemies” before his allegedly took his own life.
One employee, who spoke to outlet on the condition of anonymity, said workers were skeptical about the cause of their former colleague’s death, which has been preliminarily labeled a suicide.
The source told the Post:
It actually gives me a pit in my stomach because of what he’s been saying, and he’s dead now. Maybe he killed himself.
I don’t know what to believe. We don’t really talk about it on the (assembly) line. We’re on camera from the minute we get on the property. They can hear us. So no one wants to talk about it at work.
A lot of people are skeptical, because he made some pretty powerful enemies.
Another Boeing employee who spoke to the Post said: “Nothing surprises me when it comes to Boeing. It’s a good job but you’ve got to stay in line. If you don’t, you won’t work there anymore.”
Barnett predicted he could be killed and his death framed a suicide, a close friend of his alleged in a phone interview to ABC News 4 aired Thursday.
“He wasn’t concerned about safety because I asked him, I said, ‘Aren’t you scared?’” Barnett’s friend, identified as Jennifer, told ABC News 4, according to the outlet’s video report.
“And his voice, the way he would talk, ‘Nah, I ain’t scared,’ he said, ‘but if anything happens to me, it’s not suicide.’ I know that he did not commit suicide — there’s no way. He loved life too much, he loved his family too much, he loved his brothers too much to put them through what they’re going through right now.”
Boeing did not directly address the multiple claims surrounding Barnett’s death but released a statement saying: “We are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends.”
Police have not indicated Boeing is under investigation or suspected of any foul play.
Barnett’s death comes at a time when production standards at both Boeing and its key supplier Spirit Aerosystems are under intense scrutiny.
Last week, the FAA said a six-week audit of the company had found “multiple instances where the company allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements.”