The complaint alleges that John Barnett was subjected to a campaign of harassment, abuse and humiliation after he raised concerns about safety issues. It claims that the conduct of the company was "the clear, foreseeable cause" of Mr Barnett's death. Boeing said that it was saddened by Mr Barnett's death and extended its condolences to his family.

The former Boeing manager was found dead from what police described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the parking lot of a Charleston hotel on 9 March last year. The 146-page lawsuit has been brought by his mother, Vicky Stokes, and his brothers Rodney and Michael on behalf of his estate. It was filed last Wednesday in the US District Court of South Carolina. It attributes his death to Boeing's actions, including what it describes as a retaliatory campaign by his managers that amounted to a ‘hostile work environment’. "Whether or not Boeing intended to drive John to death or merely destroy his ability to function, it was absolutely foreseeable that Boeing's conduct would result in PTSD and John's unbearable depression... Boeing's conduct was the clear cause, and the clear foreseeable cause, of John's death", it says.

It describes Mr Barnett as a dedicated, idealistic worker who ‘took his role seriously in protecting the flying public’ and "believed that he had a personal, legal and moral obligation to ensure… that every possible defect was identified, documented and remedied." It describes how he was allegedly harassed, denigrated, humiliated and treated with scorn and contempt, as well as being removed from investigations he was working on and blacklisted from transferring to other quality control positions within the company. (BBC/ John Barnett)