The lawyers for a Boeing whistleblower who was recently found dead say they need “more information” about what happened to him.
The body of John Barnett was found at his motel in South Carolina on Saturday. Barnett’s body was discovered inside his parked truck after he failed to report to court for another day of depositions in a long-running whistleblower retaliation lawsuit he had filed against the aviation giant. The local coroner’s office said that Barnett’s death appears to be the result of a self-inflicted gunshot, although no official autopsy results have been released at this time.
Barnett’s death spurred conspiracy theories across the web and now his attorneys are claiming they’re unsatisfied with the information that has been put out about his death. Robert Turkewitz of the Law Office of Robert M. Turkewitz, LLC and Brian Knowles of Knowles Law Firm, PC, provided Gizmodo with a statement about Barnett’s death. The statement reads, in full:
John was a brave, honest man of the highest integrity. He cared dearly about his family, his friends, the Boeing company, his Boeing co-workers, and the pilots and people who flew on Boeing aircraft. We have rarely met someone with a more sincere and forthright character.
In the course of his job as a quality manager at Boeing South Carolina, John learned of and exposed very serious safety problems with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and was retaliated against and subjected to a hostile work environment, which is the subject of his pending AIR-21 case.
John was in the midst of a deposition in his whistleblower retaliation case, which finally was nearing the end. He was in very good spirits and really looking forward to putting this phase of his life behind him and moving on. We didn’t see any indication he would take his own life. No one can believe it.
We are all devasted. We need more information about what happened to John. The Charleston police need to investigate this fully and accurately and tell the public what they find out. No detail can be left unturned.
Gizmodo reached out to Boeing for comment on the attorneys’ statement and will update this story if it responds.
Barnett’s death has spurred further controversy for Boeing at a time when the company was already enduring a maelstrom of negative press due to ongoing safety incidents involving its planes. Boeing responded to the news of Barnett’s death on Monday, saying: “We are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends.”
Additional reporting provided by Matt Novak.
