John Barnett | |
|---|---|
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| Born | February 23, 1962[1] Mount Shasta, California, United States |
| Died | March 9, 2024 (aged 62) |
| Cause of death | Suicide by firearm[2][3][4] |
| Alma mater | Bolton High School Seattle University (n.d.) |
| Employer | Boeing (c. 1985 – 2017) |
| Known for | Boeing whistleblower |
| Spouse(s) | Cindy Swafford (div.) Diane Johnson |
John Mitchell Barnett (February 23, 1962 – March 9, 2024) was an American whistleblower who was known for his substantiated safety and quality reports to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about Boeing's production of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and death which occurred amidst a lawsuit he brought against Boeing. Barnett worked in quality control at Boeing for 32 years, serving for seven as a manager in North Charleston, South Carolina. Barnett was one of several employees to go public about malpractices at Boeing beginning in 2019 with The New York Times and was featured in the 2022 Netflix documentary titled Downfall: The Case Against Boeing.
During his time in South Carolina, Barnett documented and reported several safety and quality issues to Boeing and the FAA. Boeing's own internal investigations corroborated his complaints about malfunctioning emergency oxygen systems and, in 2017, the FAA ordered remedial actions in regards to his complaints about non-conforming parts and metal shavings. Barnett subsequently filed a whistleblower complaint with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) under the FAA's Whistleblower Protection Program, AIR 21, which was closed by OSHA in favor of Boeing after a four-year investigation in 2021.
In 2021, Barnett and his attorneys appealed the decision and amended the original complaint, alleging that the company "undermined his career because he had raised safety concerns," which Boeing denied. In March 2024, after he failed to report for his third day of deposition, he was found dead of a gunshot wound. The Charleston County coroner described the wound as self-inflicted. A conspiracy theory that Boeing had assassinated him spread amongst the public. As of March 12[update], his whistleblower case against Boeing was pending, to be continued under his estate, and his death was being investigated by the Charleston Police Department.
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