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Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun got grilled on Capitol Hill this week … and he just admitted the aerospace giant has a history of retaliation against whistleblowers.
The Boeing boss was in D.C. Tuesday — where he was appearing before U.S. senators for a hearing meant to address all the issues at Boeing lately — and he was asked straight-up about whistleblowers speaking truth to power … acknowledging for a fact retaliation happens.
Pressed if Boeing fired any staffers who were responsible for the retaliation, Calhoun was unable to give any specific numbers … but he said retaliation is a thing at Boeing and people have been fired as a result. He promised Senator Blumenthal to get him specifics.
It’s pretty significant testimony, given what’s happened to some whistleblowers in recent months.
As we reported … Boeing whistleblower John Barnett died back in March from an apparent suicide, smack in the middle of depositions for his lawsuit against the company — something his attorney was highly suspicious of when it happened.
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1/31/24
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A few weeks after John’s death, a second whistleblower died from an infection despite reportedly showing no symptoms in the weeks prior … and again, it raised alarms.
Calhoun’s not saying the deaths in these instances are related or the result of retaliation, but it’s interesting nonetheless. Bigger picture — he’s fessing up to the fact that Boeing has had a history of trying to silence folks in their own ranks for pointing out issues with the planes.
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1/5/24
The Boeing chief also apologized to people in the room who’d been affected by the company’s safety issues — including family members who’d perished in crashes.
Quite an eventful today … and it sounds like Boeing is under pressure to make changes.
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Fascinatingly enough … even more whistleblowers are coming forward now — including one who went public shortly before Calhoun spoke to Congress. The floodgates are open now.