Boeing whistleblower attorney Brian Knowles, along with co-counselor Rob Turkewitz, represented both of the men who came out about production procedures they witnessed and then died in sad circumstances within the last two months. John Barnett, a quality manager at the Boeing 787 plant in North Charleston, SC, succumbed to a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his Dodge Ram truck, while Joshua Dean, an inspector at Boeing fuselage supplier Spirit AeroSystems, lost his life following the sudden onset of MRSA, leading to a fatal staph infection.
In an exclusive interview, Knowles tells Fortune that a slew of new whistleblowers that he and Turkewitz represent will shortly come forward. “You’ll see more whistleblowers coming out soon,” he predicts. “More than ten whistleblowers, who are our clients from Boeing, Spirit, and another supplier besides Spirit, will speak up in the near future.” According to Knowles, the tragic deaths of Barnett and Dean prompted these clients to speak up. “They consider those two figures who put so much on the line to speak out as heroes,” he continues. “These whistleblowers are already putting a great deal at risk in terms of stress and potential damage to their careers and will soon be getting their messages out publicly, just as Barnett and Dean did.”
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One of the whistleblowers in the wings, represented by Knowles and Turkewitz, has now stepped forward. On May 8, Santiago Paredes, a quality inspector for Spirit from 2010 to 2022, told the BBC and CBS News that Spirit routinely sent Boeing fuselages with 50 to 200 defective parts. Spirit said it “strongly disagrees” with Paredes’ claims.
According to Knowles, the new group of whistleblowers includes both current and past personnel. He claims that when the workers discovered what they saw as flaws in Boeing’s or Spirit’s processes and procedures that resulted in manufacturing errors, they originally notified their bosses. However, when higher-ups declined to follow the procedures that the workers believed were necessary to repair the job, the whistleblowers filed complaints with federal regulators, including the Federal Aviation Administration.
According to Knowles, a client who is still on the job has received backlash from Boeing management. Knowles stated that the only remedy for retaliatory conduct is to file an Air21 complaint with OSHA, which seeks compensation for encountering a hostile work environment. He and Turkewitz filed an AIR21 claim on Barnett’s behalf, which was the prelude to the Labor Department action against Boeing in which he testified just two days before his death. “Even if workers are unable to file an Air21, they can still come forward. “And that is what will happen,” Knowles adds.
According to Knowles, Air21 actions must be brought within 90 days of the claimed retaliatory activity occurring. If the whistleblowers’ reports result in regulatory sanctions being imposed on Boeing or its suppliers, they may be eligible for awards. “If the government wants people to become whistleblowers, regulators need to provide some incentive to come forward,” Knowles says.
Knowles thinks that the daring of people like Barnett and Dean is exactly what is required to restore top levels of safety and quality to Boeing’s famed manufacturing machine. He claims that a new group of whistleblowers will soon carry on their legacy on a mission he characterizes as “all part of an effort to help put Boeing and Spirit back on the right track and protect the flying public.”
