Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun has admitted that he was aware that employees were retaliating against whistleblowers.
Mr Calhoun made the admission at a US Senate hearing on Tuesday 18th June, where lawmakers met to address Boeing’s handling of its recent scandals including the deaths of whistleblowers John Barnett and Joshua Dean.
US Senator Richard Blumenthal posed Mr Calhoun the question of how many Boeing employees have been fired for retaliating against company whistleblowers.
Mr Calhoun replied that he didn’t “have that number on the tip of [my] tongue, but I know it happens”.
Mr Blumenthal reminded Mr Calhoun that Boeing’s code of conduct directly states that an employee was not allowed to ‘retaliate against or punish anyone who speaks up to report a concern.’
Mr Calhoun also later admitted that while Boeing “had fired and disciplined people”, he did not specify the precise nature of the retaliation or link it to the deaths of the whistleblowers John Barnett and Joshua Dean.
