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What Boeing did to all the guys who remember how to build a plane (prospect.org)

submitted 7 months ago by mozz@mbin.grits.dev to c/technology@lemmy.world

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[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 99 points 7 months ago (1 children)

FTA:

"By now you know what became of Swampy: He was found dead a few weeks ago with a gunshot wound to his right temple, “apparently” self-inflicted, on what was meant to be the third day of a three-day deposition in his whistleblower case against his former employer; his amended complaint, which his lawyer released last week, is the basis for much of this story.

It is worth noting here that Swampy’s former co-workers universally refuse to believe that their old colleague killed himself. One former co-worker who was terrified of speaking publicly went out of their way to tell me that they weren’t suicidal. “If I show up dead anytime soon, even if it’s a car accident or something, I’m a safe driver, please be on the lookout for foul play.”"

[–] T156@lemmy.world 23 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Hadn't the case been going around for years before that? It started in 2017.

It seems odd that it would happen now, when there is a bunch of press around it. Especially when someone conveniently dying would just make people assume foul play.

[–] deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz 26 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

It was the right time to ensure the right stock price at the right time.

An enormous company like Boeing always has myriad legal things going on. There's always a little litigious jitter in their stock price.

Everything Swampy knew, the big cheeses did too and more. Statements entering the courts' records makes them more difficult to casually dismiss. Evidence of top echelon mismanagement becomes a problem, a stock price problem.

[–] rottingleaf@lemmy.zip 14 points 7 months ago

Being a bit cynical, him dying at this moment exactly means they are going to such lengths to protect that stock price. It may actually affect it positively.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Agreed. His family attributed it to the stress of dealing with the court case and the idea that people could die in one of the planes he oversaw being built. That tells me there was an underlying mental health issue that could explain this as suicide.

That said, the mental health decline came directly from the disregarding of his safety reports, so Boeing is at least partially responsible here. I don't think he was necessarily murdered in-person, but I do think he was essentially murdered by working in such a toxic workplace.

At least that's my take by straining at the few details I have access to.

[–] FluorideMind@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

No, they straight up mafia style murdered him. It's way too convenient.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Why wouldn't they have done that years ago before he had the chance to testify? He testified the previous week, so it's not like this prevented much...

Here's another source with more info:

Barnett filed a whistleblower complaint against Boeing in early 2017; his case against the company was heading toward a trial this June, his family said.

"He was looking forward to having his day in court and hoped that it would force Boeing to change its culture," the family said in a statement shared with NPR by his brother, Rodney Barnett.

The family says Barnett's health declined because of the stresses of taking a stand against his longtime employer.

"He was suffering from PTSD and anxiety attacks as a result of being subjected to the hostile work environment at Boeing," they said, "which we believe led to his death."

When John Barnett was interviewed by Ralph Nader in 2019, he said health issues had persisted after he retired from the plane-maker.

"It's taken a serious mental and emotional toll on me," Barnett said — but, he added, the safety of the airplanes rolling off the production line remained his main focus.

So he had been suffering from PTSD and anxiety attacks since 2017, and at least as of 2019 that was still happening.

Also, this happened after the first round of testimony:

Barnett's body was found in a vehicle in a Holiday Inn parking lot in Charleston on Saturday, police said. One day earlier, he testified in a deposition related to the string of problems he says he identified at Boeing's plant where he once helped inspect the 787 Dreamliner aircraft before delivery to customers.

If someone was going to kill him, surely they would've done so before he testified, no? Or maybe back in 2019 when he talked to the NYT?

Barnett, 62, made international headlines in April of 2019 when he and other former Boeing employees spoke to The New York Times about what he called shoddy manufacturing problems at Boeing.

It should absolutely be investigated for foul play since he was involved in court proceedings, but I think there's a simpler, more reasonable explanation that his history of PTSD and anxiety attacks pushed him over the end on the day we was supposed to go in for a second round of questioning. Questioning by lawyers can be very intense, especially if you're already suffering from a mental condition.

[–] BallsandBayonets@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Why wouldn't they have done that years ago before he had the chance to testify? He testified the previous week, so it's not like this prevented much...

Murder, and by extension getting away with it, costs money and even when it comes to covering up their mistakes corporations will not spend money until after it's absolutely necessary.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

You're obviously entitled to your own interpretation of the limited data we have. I just think, given the three articles I've read, it's much more likely to be suicide than murder. However, I do hope they do a thorough investigation. Things I'm interested in knowing are:

who owned the gun and when was it purchased?
does the gunpowder residue in the vehicle indicate that he was alone?
where were the likely suspects at the time?

But at this point, I'm thinking ~80% suicide, 20% murder.