Over 24,000 signatures say sudden deaths of former Boeing Whistleblowers Joshua Dean and John Barnett raise serious questions
WASHINGTON – A new petition is demanding the U.S. Department of Justice investigate the sudden deaths of former Boeing Whistleblowers Joshua Dean and John Barnett, who reported recent safety concerns at the aerospace firm and testified against it in a lawsuit. The petition, as of this writing, has been signed by over 24,000 people.
Boeing operates a plant in Greenville, S.C. As MyrtleBeachSC News reported on March 12th, 62-year-old John Barnett died on March 9 after working for Boeing for several decades. The Charleston County coroner’s office said the former Boeing employee died from a “self-inflicted” gunshot wound. He was found in his truck at a hotel parking lot just after testifying against Boeing.
A second Boeing whistleblower suddenly fell ill from a rare MRSA infection, dying in just days.
The petition highlights that Barnett worked at Boeing for nearly 30 years and reported concerns that he said could lead to “catastrophic” damage to management, who he says ignored his complaints and moved him to another part of the plant. Dean also raised concerns to management, who then pressured him and his coworkers to downplay the defects that they found.
“The dangerous trend of Boeing aircraft accidents is extremely alarming, and it’s time the Department of Justice investigate these tragic whistleblower deaths and the mounting allegations from employees that Boeing has sought to silence those that spoke out over safety concerns,” said MoveOn spokesperson Britt Jacovich.
Sam Salehpour, another whistleblower, told members of Congress that employees like Dean, Barnett, and himself who sound the alarm on safety concerns are “ignored, marginalized, threatened, sidelined and worse.” Salehpour even shared that he feared “physical violence” after coming forward.
In the last three months, along with the sudden deaths of Dean and Barnett, a Boeing plane door plug exploded on an Alaska Airlines flight; a Boeing plane suddenly nosedived mid-flight, injuring 50 people on a Latam Airlines flight; and a United Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing when a wheel fell off the Boeing plane, damaging and crushing several cars in San Francisco. And in 2018 and 2019, there were two Boeing crashes that resulted in the death of more than 340 people.