Boeing Whistleblower's Family Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit

The family of Boeing whistleblower John Barnett filed a wrongful death lawsuit on March 19, 2025 in federal court in Charleston, South Carolina, alleging the company's conduct drove him to suicide.

Barnett had worked as a quality inspector for seven years at Boeing's North Charleston plant, where 787 Dreamliners are assembled, and he raised safety concerns that led to years of retaliation claims under OSHA whistleblower rules.

The complaint states that the PTSD, depression, anxiety, and panic attacks caused by Boeing's treatment led him to take his own life.

He died on March 8, 2024, found around 9:30 in the morning in his locked pickup truck at a Holiday Inn with a gunshot wound, one day after finishing a two day deposition.

His handwritten note, filled with exclamation marks, said he prayed that the people who destroyed his life would pay and that Boeing would pay.

The estate's legal team includes longtime attorneys Rob Turkewitz and Brian Knowles alongside prominent litigator David Boies.

Boeing said it was saddened by Barnett's death and extended condolences to his family while denying wrongdoing.

The wrongful death suit filed March 19, 2025 in federal court in Charleston never reached a jury. After seven years as a quality manager at Boeing's North Charleston 787 plant, Barnett died by suicide in March 2024 midway through deposition testimony, leaving a note reading I pray Boeing Pays NPR. By May 2025 the estate had agreed to a $50,000 wrongful death payment plus a sealed Labor Department settlement of his retaliation case. Approval has failed three times, latest in an April 15 order, because Judge Bruce Howe Hendricks cannot weigh fairness while the whistleblower terms stay secret the Post and Courier; the family says its share will fund whistleblower groups, and the $50,000 stays unpaid.