PBD Podcast - Boeing Whistleblower John Barnett's Attorney Robert Turkewitz | PBD Podcast | Ep. 387

Episode Date: March 29, 2024

Patrick Bet-David is joined by Robert Turkewitz, the attorney representing Boeing whistleblower John Barnett. Buy two PBD Podcast or Valuetainment mugs, get a third FREE! Use promo code "pbdmugs..." at checkout: https://bit.ly/3TBAMsq Purchase tickets to PBD Podcast LIVE! w/ Tulsi Gabbard on April 25th: https://bit.ly/3VmuaRm Connect one-on-one with the right expert for you on Minnect: https://bit.ly/3MC9IXE Connect with Patrick Bet-David on Minnect: https://bit.ly/3OoiGIC Purchase Patrick's new book "Choose Your Enemies Wisely": https://bit.ly/41bTtGD Register to win a Valuetainment Boss Set (valued at over $350): https://bit.ly/41PrSLW Get best-in-class business advice with Bet-David Consulting: https://bit.ly/40oUafz Visit VT.com for the latest news and insights from the world of politics, business and entertainment: https://bit.ly/472R3Mz Visit Valuetainment University for the best courses online for entrepreneurs: https://bit.ly/47gKVA0 Text “PODCAST” to 310-340-1132 to get the latest updates in real-time! Get PBD's Intro Song "Sweet Victory" by R-Mean: https://bit.ly/3T6HPdY SUBSCRIBE TO: @VALUETAINMENT @vtsoscast @ValuetainmentComedy @bizdocpodcast @theunusualsuspectspodcast Want to be clear on your next 5 business moves? https://bit.ly/3Qzrj3m Join the channel to get exclusive access to perks: https://bit.ly/3Q9rSQL Download the podcasts on all your favorite platforms https://bit.ly/3sFAW4N Patrick Bet-David is the founder and CEO of Valuetainment Media. He is the author of the #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller “Your Next Five Moves” (Simon & Schuster) and a father of 2 boys and 2 girls. He currently resides in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pbdpodcast/support

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Okay, so we have a special episode here with us. Here's Robert Turkowitz, who is the lawyer of John Barnett, who was the whistleblower of Boeing. He had been with them for 32 years and there's a lot of things that's going on with Boeing right now. I figured it'd make sense to go straight to the source and speak with the lawyer to see Maybe maybe get a little bit more information than what the public already has so with that being said Robert Thank you so much for being on a podcast
Starting point is 00:00:54 So, you know There's a there's a couple different camps when you think about what's going on today with Boeing the average person Who just wants to book a flight they want to go on United they want to go on American They want to go flight, they want to go on United, they want to go on American, they want to go on Delta, they want to get on their flight, they want to go from LA to Miami, LA to Phoenix or New York, and they don't want to be thinking about all this other stuff. And it seems like every other day you turn something on, this fell out of the plane. The door opens up, this screw was missing, the tire falls off, and FAA put some of the blame on the actual airline. Hey, how
Starting point is 00:01:26 come you're not doing the checking united? But a lot of it is being put more on Boeing. And then while this is going on, we have John Barnett, who is your client, and I think you've been representing him for seven years, but I also think you guys have been friends as well. So the relationship isn't just a business relationship. Again, feel free to correct me at any time. He was with Boeing for 32 years, serving for seven years as a quality control manager in North Charleston, South Carolina after retiring in 2017. Comes out, starts talking about some of the events that's taking place, some controversy, and some people of power are probably not interested in that. And I remember he used to say before the merger took place, when you would say there's an
Starting point is 00:02:09 issue here, they would listen until the new buyers came and they merged. Then they no longer wanted to hear you. They would make fun of him. They would take shots at him. They would find a way to demonize or undermine him. And this is him saying it in a couple of videos and previous testimonies. So that creates a little bit of skepticism for some of us to say what really happened. And then we get the news all of a sudden while we're talking about it on the podcast, boom,
Starting point is 00:02:33 there is a self-inflicted wound. He kills himself, suicide. Parents read the note and the parents say that doesn't look like John's handwriting. And right prior to that, he comes out and he says, you know, I am not suicidal. If anything happens to me, it's not suicide. Friend of deadboing whistleblower says he told her, this is a March 15 story. So Robert, from your perspective, being closer to this than any one of us, what are we getting wrong?
Starting point is 00:03:03 What is the media getting wrong? And what should we be looking at more closely? Well, there's a lot of, I think a lot of conspiracy, disinformation that's out there right now. And you raise a lot of issues. John was about as honest an individual and decent an individual, he had the highest integrity. He was a quality manager and he, throughout his career,
Starting point is 00:03:33 was concerned most with safety of the flying public. And before he came to Charleston, he was at Everett where he worked on the 747, the 777, 7067. And he would relay that, you know, that those plants where he worked, that quality truly was the most important thing. And if somebody raised their hand or if someone said there's a problem here, things stopped and whatever it was was fixed and there was no question that quality was going to come first. And when he came to Charleston, that changed. It was a different atmosphere, different culture. And he raised a lot of issues of people, management, upper management,
Starting point is 00:04:31 basically pressuring workers to, not following the processes and procedures. And he was brought to Charleston because he was probably the most knowledgeable person at Boeing regarding the processes and procedures. So when he got here, he was just surprised to see that it was a whole different culture, a whole different way of doing business and was really concerned. And the things that he had documented and identified are a lot of the same things that
Starting point is 00:05:07 now Boeing is faced with out in Washington with regard to the 737. And he was always saying that, you know, the way things were going here, if they're going the same way elsewhere at Boeing, there's going to be a reckoning at some point. He said that. His concern has always been with the safety of the flying public. And he made a number of complaints internally. And he just felt like he was really not getting anywhere. He said that it was like basically doing battle every day on a day-to-day basis with upper management to get them to do the right thing. So that's kind of a little bit of background.
Starting point is 00:05:55 Dr. Fernando Pérez-González-Segue For somebody like me who wants to look at everything from, I've been in the insurance business for over 20 years. You'll get a case coming in, hey, there's a death benefit of a half a million dollars paying out. Great. You get the death certificate, and then the insurance company starts going through it to see if there's any foul play, if it's within the first two years and contestability clause. And I'm always going through these different interviews with these insurance carriers,
Starting point is 00:06:23 and they're asking, questioning things. And their job is to find a way, if there's any foul play, to not have to pay out the death benefit. And many times they'll say, nope, they're not getting a half a million dollars. This person was a smoker, somebody else peed in a cup for them, and da-da-da-da-da. They'll get their premium back for what they've paid for the last three years, so $300 amount of times, let's just say three years. Here's $10,800, but we're not giving a half a
Starting point is 00:06:45 million dollars. Let's just say some of these investigations that takes place. For me, it's very hard to hear this and to see somebody who is going through it. I want to say he wants to go home to his mom a day before to be with them in Louisiana But I think you guys encourage him to stay one more day For him to get it over with so it's like, okay, let's just finish the whole thing up We're this close and then that one additional day that he stays again. These are things I'm reading You can correct me and say no, there's none of that stuff that you're talking about You got to look at this article, look at that article.
Starting point is 00:07:25 And in that additional day he stays, this guy ends up deciding to kill himself and commit suicide. It's a little, you know, it's a little weird. Did you at all have any inclination that John was capable of taking his own life? No. So are you not skeptical yourself that maybe there were some ill intentions or are you more from the mindset of, no, maybe the pressure got to him and he took his life? Well, you know, the investigation is still ongoing and I can't really, you know, I really
Starting point is 00:08:01 can't answer that until we get the results of the investigation, but we were surprised. He was testifying the second day with us questioning him to bring out how it was that he was being subjected to a hostile work environment. And we were the ones who said he's getting tired. He said he was getting tired, and we didn't want to push it with him. So we could have finished it that night. And we talked about maybe finishing it down the road and let him, you know, basically be able to head home. And ultimately he decided, let's just get it over with the next morning.
Starting point is 00:08:48 And, but he was tired. And I think he was a little frustrated too, because he did want to get home. He told his mom he'd be home on Sunday. He had an appointment with a good friend to have dinner on Sunday night. But we didn't see it coming. But I do have to say that this was all wearing on him. And the whole thing was wearing on him. And going through the events that took place while he was at Boeing and going through the documents,
Starting point is 00:09:23 while he was at Boeing and going through the documents, when he was testifying, I think that was, it was wearing on. And we think back at what had happened and what, we don't know exactly what happened, but you just sort of, sometimes people are just, there's only so much they can, they can put up with. And I do know that, that he was suffering from PTSD and, and was having problems with anxiety as a result of his employment at Boeing. And, and he was going
Starting point is 00:10:04 through all that. So that's all I can really say about it. We were surprised, we were shocked when we found out. That morning, I thought until we found out that he was on his way to the deposition. And then when we were told that he was in his car and that they had called 911 that maybe he was having a heart attack, but whether he had committed suicide or whatever, that was not the first thing that went to my mind. So there is proof that he called 911 before he killed
Starting point is 00:10:46 himself? Like the timing like in his phone that he dialed 911 before he killed himself? Is that is that what you're saying? No, what happened was I called the hotel when he didn't show up at the deposition and I actually tried calling John before that to see if he needed a ride. We were having like a really horrible rainstorm in Charleston and downtown, half of downtown was flooded and cars were getting stuck down there. So I called earlier and wanted to see if he wanted me to pick him up and we'd ride together and didn't get an answer. So on the way to my way, on the way that while I was driving to the deposition,
Starting point is 00:11:28 I tried calling him a few more times. And when we got to the deposition, you know, all the attorneys were there, the court reporter was there and he didn't show up. I called the hotel to see if he had checked out because he was planning on driving back from the hotel or driving back after the deposition. And found out he had not checked out, asked for the operator to put me through to his room and the phone just rang. And then I talked to the manager of the hotel and asked if we could get someone to
Starting point is 00:11:59 do a room check and go up and see if he's there. Maybe he's sleeping and overslept, we didn't know. and go up and see if he's there. Maybe he's sleeping and overslept, we didn't know. And she came back and said that nobody was there and that his bags and all were there. So I asked her, she could look to see if his truck is still there, thinking maybe he already left and he's maybe stuck in some of the flooded areas.
Starting point is 00:12:20 And that's when she came back, the manager, and said, his truck is there, and I called 911, and I can't provide to you any other information. So we were waiting. At that point, as I was saying, we thought, you know, maybe he had a heart attack or something, because, you know, we knew that this was putting a lot of strain on him.
Starting point is 00:12:43 I mean, that was pretty clear in his deposition that reading through the documents and talking about it, it was hard for him. It was hard for him because he was having to relive what he had gone through. So I called her again, the manager, and she said that a police officer will give me a call.
Starting point is 00:13:08 And police officer called. She wouldn't give us any information about what was going on. She wanted to know who I was. And we explained that, you know, I was an attorney and we're sitting here with other lawyers. So we didn't get it. She said, I can't tell you what's going on. So we all got in our cars and we drove to the hotel.
Starting point is 00:13:26 And that's when we found out what had happened. And it was just, you know, it was just horrible situation. Robert, did he have any kids? He had two step-sons. Okay. And that's through his wife who used to be with Boeing as well for 28 years and I think at the even in 2020 his wife used to work with FAA if I'm not mistaken right till she had some kind of a relation with the FAA. Yeah his step-sons are with his first wife and they were she did work at
Starting point is 00:14:01 Boeing I think she might still work at Boeing and that was in Washington and he had two step-sons who he cared very much for as well. But they got divorced and they stayed good friends. But he came when he came to Charleston, he was also one of his best friends also came to Charleston and that was Diane. So and she the, I believe the FAA liaison with Boeing. She was the FAA liaison to Boeing, almost like an ambassador representing the country to go talk to UK or Iran. A spokesperson for them to like a middle middleman type of a person. Yeah, I think she worked for Boeing but she was someone who also communicated with the FAA if I'm not mistaken. So she's working
Starting point is 00:14:52 it but they're no longer married but they're still friends. She's at Boeing 28 years. She has relationships with FAA and then he doesn't have any kids. He has two stepkids. And, you know, again, based on... You said something as well where you said... I think you said it yesterday where he loved Boeing. He didn't have any problems with Boeing, and he was just trying to get this, the truth out there to minimize the amount of mishaps and mistakes that were being made ever since the merger, whatever the year was when there's a merger. I think it's in the late 90s. To give context on how long he's been there, he worked there from 1985, I want to say,
Starting point is 00:15:34 to 2017. That's 32 years, give or take. So even when the merger happened with the company, what is it called? Douglas. 1997 is when the merger happened. McDonald Douglas, I believe it is. Yeah, 1997, it was a massive merger, $14 billion prior to that standards were higher. But you said he didn't have any ill intentions to Boeing. He loved Boeing. You said something like that yesterday, I believe, on Fox with Jesse Waters.
Starting point is 00:16:04 Yeah, no, that's true. He loved the old Boeing. You said something like that yesterday, I believe, on Fox with Jesse Waters. Yeah, no, it's true. He loved the old Boeing. He loved Boeing that he had worked at while he was at Everett. And he had problems with the Boeing in South Carolina and felt like he was being subjected to just a horrible situation, a hostile work environment in which, you know, he was, he was that they were not following the rules. And he was someone who, you know, as a quality manager, you know, he felt like he his job was to make sure that those processes and procedures were being followed
Starting point is 00:16:47 Because you know, they basically ensure the safety of the airplane the aircraft So he loved the old Boeing and he saw where Boeing was going and he was really concerned He was hoping or he tried to get Boeing South Carolina to do the right thing and to follow the processes and procedures, but he was not successful. So yeah, he did love Boeing and he wanted to save Boeing, but he also wanted to save the flying public as well. I mean, it was but he was also wanting to save the flying public as well. I mean, it was a situation where, you know, it's like you see something that you grew to love and they turn and it was really frustrating for him. It just, I think it caused a tremendous amount of stress to the point where
Starting point is 00:17:47 it caused a tremendous amount of stress to the point where at one point his doctor told him that you need to leave Boeing or you're going to have a heart attack because he was going through so much stress. So it's one of those things where he was faced with the situation where, you know, he just had to do something about it and he refused. He had so much integrity that, you know, he refused just to see it all happening and not do something about it. A couple of things that I want to just point out. You mentioned about his wife, Diane. This is his second wife, Diane.
Starting point is 00:18:29 She was working at Charleston, Boeing Charleston, and they were best friends, but they knew each other from Washington. And after he retired early, he planned to work another 10 years, but he retired early based on the fact that his health was being, you know, was going down. He also knew that he was probably going to get fired because he was being retaliated against. So he decided he saw the writing on the wall and said, I better retire rather than lose all my benefits and all as part of it. But anyway, Diane was working here in Charleston and after he left, he went down to Louisiana and Diane came down with brain cancer.
Starting point is 00:19:19 When he found out that she was going to be put into a nursing home, he said he's not going to let his best friend go into a nursing home. He said he's not going to let his best friend go into a nursing home. He came to Charleston and got her and brought her back to Louisiana and nursed her. And she lived probably three times as long as the doctors had given her. But in the course of that, they got married.
Starting point is 00:19:39 And that's the kind of person that John was. He just cared about other people, was selfless, you know, never met a stranger. He just cared about people and wanted to do the right thing. And that's why he spoke up while in Charleston. Was he a man of faith? Yeah, I think he was. I think he was. Was he a church-going man? Was he a praying man?
Starting point is 00:20:07 Was he a man that would talk about God? Was he a man who was optimistic about looking that future looks bright? He had hope. He was optimistic. Was he that kind of a person? Well, he wasn't the kind of person who wore that on his sleeves, but, you know, he comes from a really good family and you know, belong to a church and are active in church. So, you know, I mean that's... So, he wasn't an atheist. He was not an atheist. He was somebody that believed in God. You could tell that he had some kind of faith. Oh, yeah. Okay. So, you know, you know what? He cared so much about people and that tells me he had faith. And that's the feeling I get from him. So, what I did while know what? He cared so much about people and that tells me you get paid. And that's the feeling I get from him. So what I did while you're saying this,
Starting point is 00:20:49 it creates a couple questions for me. Let me first ask this question and I'll go to the next one. How much progress do you think he was making by creating pressure for the new Boeing? Obviously, to clarify, he loved the old Boeing, not the new Boeing, which means the first 15 years of him being at Boeing prior to the Douglas, whatever the name is, merger that took place. So the old Boeing, he was there 15 years, the new Boeing 17 years. Do you feel he was making progress to create the kind of level of accountability where Boeing had to finally get their act together?
Starting point is 00:21:30 He was hoping that this case, this whistleblower case on the Air 21 would bring that about. I mean, at one point he was wanting to talk to the CEO of the company and just tell him, look, you know, this company is no longer the company that he started with. This company I started with put quality and safety before anything. And this company now puts shareholder value above everything else. And because of that, you know, production and moving the assembly line takes precedent over quality. And, you know, he saw the writing on the wall and he was saying there's going to be a reckoning someday. So, okay, if that's the case, this is kind of where I go. And, you know, you seem like a nice
Starting point is 00:22:20 man. You seem like a man, you know, military, Navy, you work for the Jag, you sound like somebody who is a man of values, probably a good father, family, you sound like the kind of a father a girl would like to have, like a girl that you have a gentle yet firmness to you. Okay, that's how you present yourself to me. I don't know you, we've never broke bread, but my first impression, that's the impression I get from you. And I go to the website while I'm talking to you. I go and say, why do I feel suicidal?
Starting point is 00:22:51 I go to this website, Suicidal Feelings. Okay, let's go through a list. Common causes of suicidal feelings. Number one, mental health problems. Okay, I've seen the documentation that he was dealing with PTSD and etc., etc. That's some of the recent stories that comes up. Bullying, prejudice or stigma. Alright, again, sexual identity, gender, this is not the case.
Starting point is 00:23:15 Different types of abuse including domestic sexual physical, this is not the case. Bereavement including losing a loved one to suicide. Not lost a loved one to suicide, but, not lost a loved one to suicide, but of course the wife, we're talking about her health, he moved to do that, okay. The end of a relationship, makes sense. Long term physical pain or illness, doesn't sound like that's the case here. Adjusting to a big change such as retirement or redundancy. Retired in 2017, it's been seven years so it's not like, you know, it just sudden.
Starting point is 00:23:44 That typically would happen more within a year to two years Money problems was he having any money problems? Would you say he was in a bad financial stage? I Don't believe so but but you did mention one thing and that is he was really frustrated about how long this process was taking and You know, we've talked a lot about the need for the Air 21 law to be amended and changed to provide more protection for whistleblowers. The Air 21 complaint that was filed,
Starting point is 00:24:20 it took almost four years for OSHA to investigate that. So he also, you know, he made not only the retaliation allegations, but he made allegations about what he saw as being serious, serious defects that he believes had gone on properly addressed, that had been unaddressed. that had been unaddressed. And so when you're a whistleblower and you're having to go through all this, because it could be really stressful as it was for him, and then when it takes that long for it to be investigated, and you're thinking that the complaints that you made
Starting point is 00:25:09 need to be addressed quickly. And the only way really it's going to be addressed is through litigation down the road. It took four years for us to get to the litigation part of it. And in all this time, it's his life and he's it's something that's just weighing on him. So it just I think the system right now needs to be needs to be fixed. There's OSHA, which is the agency that investigates it, they're undermanned, they're underfunded, it was clear to us that they were. And then when we got into court, even though the judge is trying to move the case as quickly as possible, it was just dragging on.
Starting point is 00:25:53 And this situation is dragging on because we're running into snags and getting documents produced. We had to move to compel twice to get Boeing to produce documents because they refused. And even at the end of the day, we still haven't received all the discovery that we had been promised or that the judge had ordered to be produced. So all of this now we're talking about seven years for this individual who, you know, believed, you know, that this system is supposed to work, or was always depending on the system, it's taken seven years
Starting point is 00:26:32 for him to get to this point. And what was, you know, really, that that shocked us most of all is that we're really close, you know, his, we were looking at a trial date in June, late June, and he only had a little bit left for his deposition. And then we were going to take depositions throughout the month of March. But his was really, for the most part, the first deposition. And I think that it just wore on him. It just wore him to the point
Starting point is 00:27:08 where he just got to the point where he just said, I, this is it, I reached my limit. And that's assuming that, you know, that he, that he took his own life. We still don't have the final report on that. But, you know, the coroner's report was, or at least the coroner came out and said it was an apparent suicide. They came out and they said it's an apparent suicide? The coroner did. Coroner did, and yeah.
Starting point is 00:27:37 But the police are investigating it still, and I think the coroner is still investigating as well. I mean, you have to, as a person who's just curious, you wanna get all the options. I mean, if to, you know, as a person who's just curious you want to get all the options. I mean if you look at data, I don't know if you've seen the stock, if you want to pull up the stock Rob, when you think about Boeing, just earlier this year in the month of January, if you go to just go to Boeing stock, you go to December. You would notice in December the stock was at around 267.
Starting point is 00:28:05 Okay, 52, go six months behind, go six months, 6M, 6M Rob, right there. Yeah, so all the way right there in the middle, you'll notice the stock hit about 267, right there. And then if you go to March 13th, keep going forward to March 13th, boom, couple days back, it hits 182, all the way down to 170. So if a stock goes from 267 to 170, that's a drop of $100.
Starting point is 00:28:32 What's 100 on 267? It's probably around 40%. Yeah, it's about 38%. It drops 38%. So market cap, we're not talking a billion or two billion or three billion We're talking about a hundred seventy billion dollar company give or take loses sixty billion dollars right fifty billion dollars real money and to some people who already
Starting point is 00:28:58 Don't trust some of these organizations especially how loose that men were the, a guy, they interviewed a bunch of the engineers. I don't know if you have that video, Rob, where they're interviewing the people that are working there and they're saying, hey, would you fly Boeing plane? Oh, hell no. Would you fly? No. Would you fly? No.
Starting point is 00:29:16 We're no longer responsible that we used to be. Would you do this? Would you do that? Would you do that? I mean, it's just people at the, if you can play this clip, employees are saying this, go ahead and play this. Would not fly on the Dreamliner. I wouldn't fly over these plates because I see the quality of it going down around here. An employee captured the footage after contacting Al Jazeera to tell us he had serious concerns about what he was seeing.
Starting point is 00:29:44 At his request, we changed his voice. With all the problems reported on the 787, there's 90% that's getting swept away, hushed up. It's an iceberg. In another meeting, the source told us workers are often underskilled, uncaring, and in some cases on drugs. I've seen a lot of things that should not go on at an airplane plant. People talking about doing drugs, looking for drugs.
Starting point is 00:30:32 Over the course of a year, Al Shazir's investigative unit... So you know, this is the kind of stuff the average person, Robert, sees. And they want to sit there and they say, okay, there's no foul play. It's just regular things that's going on. John was probably under so much pressure that he took his life because of the challenges he was facing. That's probably what it is. And I'm willing to bet 90% of people, 80% of people are probably going to roll with that story and say, okay, maybe that's what it is.
Starting point is 00:31:01 But when you're a whistleblower, we know a lot of whistleblowers. Some of them don't live in America anymore. Some of them live in Russia. Some of them live in different places because they just don't feel safe being here. And they feel more protected on enemy territory than here. Did John at all, when you would speak to him, did he ever express the fear for his life? Like, would he ever say, Robert, I'm worried. Do I need security, do I need to do this? Did he feel worried that something could happen to him? He never expressed that to me and the type of person John was is if he I think if he was afraid he wouldn't show it. I mean he always put on a you know happy face really for the most part or tried to be positive that's the type of person he was.
Starting point is 00:31:45 So he's never expressed that to me. It's interesting that you showed that footage because when that came out, I guess the question was, you know, what did Boeing do when they saw that? You know, when they heard their own people saying that never fly on a 787. What John said was, you know, when he was at Everett, he and everybody who worked there, they were proud of that plane. They would they wouldn't hesitate to fly on that plane. And it was, you know, a matter of pride to them. But in Charleston, I mean, that what was in that
Starting point is 00:32:28 to them. But in Charleston, I mean, what was in that video is I've heard that from, I can't tell you the number of people who I heard that from, because they knew that the processes and procedures were not being followed. They knew that shortcuts were being taken. And they also knew that if they complained about it, they were going to get fired. And what they were told there by the managers is that you better stop complaining because there are a thousand people outside the gate wanting your job. And that's just the fact that that was going on. And management ignored it. And, you know, that, I mean, that the management should have been, they should have saw that as a huge red flag. And they should have taken action to determine is that true? And what are we going to do about it? Because that's
Starting point is 00:33:19 unsatisfactory. So the flying public does need to have faith that the plane that they're flying on was built properly and built correctly. And if it's not, if they don't have that faith, then they're going to make their decisions on what planes to fly on. And I know a lot of people right now are choosing to fly other planes. And to be honest with you, I mean, that's not an unreasonable decision to make. I mean, when you have someone like Ed Pearson, who is a whistleblower on the 737, basically saying that when he found out that he was on a 737 MAX, he actually got off the plane and made other arrangements. That tells you something. So the Boeing of before, the old Boeing,
Starting point is 00:34:15 once they heard of that, they would have been talking about that in the boardroom and said, we got a problem and we need to do something about it. The Boeing that we're seeing now is a Boeing that, well, what are we going to do to change that impression as long as and what can we do to get the sharehold to get the stock to go back up to where it was instead of what are we going to do to fix the problem?
Starting point is 00:34:43 And that's what they need to do. They need to fix the problem? And that's what they need to do. They need to fix the problem. And we had, John and I had many conversations about, you know, what Boeing needs to do to fix the problem. And, you know, the problem is that Boeing has never, or in the last 20 years, Boeing has never gone to its own people and said, do we have a problem, and what do we need to do to fix it? Because that would interfere with shareholder value. And so this
Starting point is 00:35:12 Boeing right now needs to they need to reorganize, and they need to prove to the public that quality and safety are our top concern and really matter. And that's the only thing that's gonna fix this company. Otherwise, I see this company going down. You see this company going down? If they don't fix their problem, I do. Do you trust, like today when you travel,
Starting point is 00:35:37 do you check to see if it's Boeing or not? I do. And do you travel Boeing? Well, there are times when I when I do when I have to Do you do it with do you have like a backpack with a chute in it or just to kind of feel safe or no? You just trust them Let's let's put this way I'm not comfortable. I
Starting point is 00:36:00 Have not flown on a max Would I fly on a max I might mean, it depends on what the options are. But I know a lot of people who won't. And I think that's of concern. Eddie Bight, MPH, CDE, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO, C departing CEO Dave Calhoun, who is going to be getting the $24 million payday. And if the stock comes back, I think another 37% with the new CEO, he'll get another $45.5 million payday, which is creating a comp plan that he at least works with the new CEO and is willing to accommodate. Are there any other whistleblowers outside of, I think you said Ed Pearson, right? Are there any other whistleblowers aside from John Barnett and Ed Pearson out there that are as loud as
Starting point is 00:36:51 John was to create the kind of pressure that he created under Boeing? Well, I could tell you that we do represent other whistleblowers, okay, you have tried to get Boeing to do the right thing and were retaliated against. And were retaliated against or you're being retaliated against right now from Boeing? No I'm not being retaliated against. But my clients were retaliated against. And there's a whole, I mean, there's a small army of Boeing workers who worked at the Charleston factory, who complained about problems and who ended up getting fired. And, you know, it's just,
Starting point is 00:37:51 ended up getting fired. And, you know, it's just, it just astounds me that management at Charleston didn't do anything. And I'm, you know, there are good people there. I know that. And then there were people there who, you know, kind of, I think, created a real problem there and The good people Needed to speak up and needed to do something about it like John Barnett did, you know as far as I'm concerned John Barnett is a hero and he tried to get them to change and You know, I think if if Boeing had If Boeing had done the right thing, I think John would be alive right now. What car was John Barnett driving when he got that, when he killed himself? He was driving a Clemson Orange pickup truck, a Dodge Ram pickup truck.
Starting point is 00:38:37 Was it a newer one or no? Newer for me, I mean, I don't, I drive an older car. Is it like a brand new one, 2023, 2022? Is it a newer one or no? No, I think it was 2015. Curious to know because some of these things, you know, you... Was he in a wide open area where there's a camera, where there's other things? Was it in a parking lot?
Starting point is 00:39:03 Because there's so much camera nowadays to see that the fire go like this, that the fire go like this, that the explosion go like this, that the explosion go. There's many ways to see. Were there any camera footage around the area when the incident happened? There was, there's surveillance. And again, the police are investigating it,
Starting point is 00:39:22 and I have to have faith that their investigation is being done properly. Let's just hope the police doesn't have any family working at FAA or Boeing or who knows, like some of these weird places right now. But these strange events, Robert, may actually cause Greyhound to make a comeback with what's going on right now. Because some people, the average person is, when I talk to regular guys who are afraid
Starting point is 00:39:46 of flying, and I don't know if you know people who are afraid of flying, there's already people that have anxiety when they get on a flight and they pray to every single God up there. Normally before they go on a flight, maybe they have one religion, when they're on the flight they go wide, they want to kind of diversify, they go to six, seven gods they pray to. And you add this now with the Boeing story, you're going to have a lot of worried people right now that they're flying. And those are not the types of conversations to be having today. Robert, thank you so much for your time. I
Starting point is 00:40:13 appreciate you for answering the questions. I know you're going through it right now as well because it's a pending case. And we wish you nothing but the best because I think millions of people around the world would like to see Boeing get their act together improved so we can go back to traveling without having to overthink about the challenges that's being faced, especially today. Thank you so much for your time. You're welcome, Patrick. Thank you. Appreciate you. Take care. Bye-bye.

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