Boeing whistleblowers say Boeing retaliates against whistleblowers
In addition to his claims that the fuselages on the Boeing 787 and 777 models might “break apart” in the sky due to weak safety controls during the production process, longtime company engineer Sam Salehpour says the manufacturer dismissed his fears and and even tried to intimidate him into silence.
“He raised his hand again and again,” his attorney, Debra Katz, told NPR earlier this week . “He was threatened with physical violence. He was threatened with termination. He was transferred off the 787. He has been punished repeatedly.”
Companies that build airplanes are supposed to do a good job putting them together. And if employees see something going wrong with that process, they should be encouraged to speak up and know that their concerns will be taken seriously and remedied. Boeing told the outlet that “retaliation is strictly prohibited” at the planemaker.
Another whistleblower, John Barnett, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound before he was set to testify in a deposition against Boeing’s manufacturing processes, though people close to him claim it couldn’t have been a suicide . Boeing’s lawyers said they were looking into the matter when it first happened. As of two weeks ago, CBS was reporting that his death was still under investigation.
