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U.S. judge rejects Boeing’s guilty plea deal stemming from two 737 MAX crashes, considers diversity, equity and inclusion in selecting monitors to monitor contract compliance criticized that.
North Texas Judge Reed O’Connor said that including DEI considerations in Boeing’s selection of corporate monitors “undermines confidence” that the selection is based on merit.
The ruling prolongs a chapter in history that Boeing wants to close, as it continues to face families of those killed in the 2018 and 2019 crashes in court. Since then, the company has struggled for years, bleeding money and facing intense scrutiny from regulators, lawmakers and a roving public.
The judge also said the terms of the July agreement “wrongly marginalize” the court in selecting and overseeing monitors. Boeing did not immediately comment on the judge’s decision. The Justice Department said it was considering the opinion.
The ruling brings America’s hot culture war issue into one of the most significant corporate criminal prosecutions in U.S. history. Conservatives have been vocal about attacking corporate and government policies that promote racial diversity, many of which are based on the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man living in Minneapolis, four years ago. It was accepted and adopted.
In January 2021, Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion to deferred prosecution on a single fraud charge related to the crashes. The charges stem from misleading federal aviation regulators about the safety of the Max plane’s flight control system. The system was later found to have been involved in several crashes separated by five months that killed a total of 346 people.
Earlier this year, the Justice Department resumed a delayed prosecution after a Max’s door panel was blown off at 16,000 feet during a commercial flight. Prosecutors argued that Boeing had failed to honor the terms of an earlier agreement.
The company pleaded guilty in July and agreed to appoint a corporate monitor, but the victims’ families challenged both Boeing and prosecutors over the monitor’s role and selection.
O’Connor said the magnitude of the case against Boeing “requires that the public be confident that the selection of this monitor was based solely on merit.” Parties’ DEI efforts only erode this trust. ”
O’Connor also said that if Boeing violates the 2021 deferred prosecution agreement, “the government’s attempts to ensure compliance have failed” and that prosecutors, rather than prosecutors, were responsible for selecting and overseeing Boeing’s corporate monitor. He said courts should play a bigger role.
Boeing and prosecutors have 30 days to consult with the court and obtain an update on how to proceed.
Families of crash victims had opposed the DEI consideration and had asked O’Connor to block the deal, which was finalized this summer, saying it was too lenient on the company. Lawyers for the victims’ families hailed the ruling Thursday as a victory.
Erin Applebaum, one of the attorneys representing the family, called the verdict “an excellent decision,” and said her clients “have negotiated a plea agreement with terms that truly commensurate with the seriousness of Boeing’s crimes.” I look forward to a major renegotiation.”
