An Boeing aircraft worker who went public with safety concerns and alleged retaliation by his company has died after a brief illness, weeks after another Boeing whistleblower died, attorneys for both men said Thursday.
Joshua Dean, 45, of Wichita, Kansas, died on Tuesday after receiving various diagnoses, including the flu, pneumonia, and MRSA, causing his family to want an autopsy, according to attorney Robert Turkewitz.
“He was a healthy individual who ate well and exercised,” Turkewitz explained to NBC News. “So it just seems odd that he went so fast.”
Dean had been sick for two weeks and was having difficulty breathing, necessitating the use of a ventilator.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Josh and his family,” said Brian Knowles, another attorney who represents Dean. “Josh’s death is a loss for the aviation community and the flying public.
He had remarkable fortitude to stand up for what he believed to be true and right, as well as to highlight quality and safety concerns.”
Turkewitz and Knowles also represented John Barnett, a 62-year-old Louisiana man who died on March 9 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Charleston, South Carolina, according to officials.
Barnett was in town for a deposition in his federal lawsuit against Boeing, which is scheduled to go before an administrative law judge later this year, according to his counsel.
Worked for Boeing for 30 Years
Barnett, who worked at Boeing for more than three decades, informed aviation authorities in 2017 about what he described as potentially “catastrophic” safety flaws with the 787 Dreamliner.
Dean, a former quality auditor at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems, claimed that supervisors failed to address manufacturing faults on the 737 MAX jets.
Although he was not a plaintiff, he is cited in a shareholder case against Spirit filed in 2023.
Dean reported the “mis-drilled holes” in the rear bulkhead of the MAX planes, submitting “formal written findings to his manager,” but Spirit “concealed the defect,” according to the lawsuit. These holes could cause cracks and jeopardize an aircraft’s structural integrity.
“I’m not saying they don’t want you to go out there and examine jobs. “Yes, they do,” he told NPR this year. “However, if you cause too much problems, you will receive the Josh treatment. “You’ll understand what happened to me.”
If you are too loud, we will silence you
Dean was fired from the corporation on April 26, 2023, in what he described as an act of revenge.
“I think they were sending out a message to anybody else,” Dean went on to say. “If you are too loud, we will silence you.”
Spirit replied in a statement that it mourns Dean’s death but declined to comment on his allegations. The supplier has stated to NPR that it strongly disagrees with the allegations in the litigation and is contesting the lawsuit in court.
“Our thoughts are with Josh Dean’s family,” Spirit spokesperson Joe Buccino stated in a statement. “This sudden loss is stunning news here at Spirit and for his loved ones.”
The stress of the past few years may have taken its toll on Dean, according to Turkewitz.
“We were told that stress can cause the immune system to weaken and makes you more susceptible to pneumonia, the flu and MRSA,” he went on to say. “He’d been under a lot of pressure for blowing the whistle, and he assumed he was fired as a result of it. He had been attempting to spread the word, but no one would listen.
