The family of John Barnett, the former Boeing employee who expressed concern about the company’s practices, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

Barnett’s mother, Vicky Stokes; and his brothers, Rodney and Michael Barnett, said in the lawsuit filed in South Carolina that Boeing was the “clear cause” of Barnett’s death. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in March 2024.

“Boeing may not have pulled the trigger, but Boeing’s conduct was the clear cause, and the clear foreseeable cause, of John’s death,” the lawsuit reads.

The family says Barnett died by suicide when “the weight of years of Boeing’s harassment, abuse and humiliation” became too much for him. As an employee, the company pressured him to not document defects or the construction record of aircrafts despite his belief in identifying and remedying “every possible defect,” according to the lawsuit that was filed on Wednesday.

“When John persisted, Management embarked on a concerted campaign of harassment, abuse, and intimidation intended to discourage, discredit, and humiliate him until he would either give up or be discredited,” the family’s attorneys said.

Boeing gave Barnett low performance review scores, socially isolated him from his team, moved him around the plant at which he worked, blocked him from transferring to more favorable shifts and blacklisted him from other divisions of the company, the family said.

In 2017, the lawsuit says, Barnett was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, panic attacks and anxiety stemming from his time at Boeing. He was then forced out of the company, the family claimed.

Barnett filed a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration against Boeing in 2017, saying Boeing unlawfully retaliated against him, according to the lawsuit. On the third day of his deposition in that case, Barnett died, the family said.

“Whether or not Boeing intended to drive John to his death or merely destroy his ability to function, it was absolutely foreseeable that Boeing’s conduct would result in PTSD and John’s unbearable depression, panic attacks and anxiety, which would in turn lead to an elevated risk of suicide,” the lawsuit reads.

A spokesperson for Boeing gave the BBC a brief statement: “We are saddened by John Barnett’s death and extend our condolences to his family.” Boeing has not responded to a request for comment.

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