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A US judge has rejected Boeing’s plea deal stemming from the twin 737 Max crashes, citing diversity, equality and inclusion in the selection of monitors to oversee compliance.
Judge Reed O’Connor in North Texas said the inclusion OF THE considerations in selecting a corporate monitor for Boeing would “undermine confidence” that the selection was based on competence.
The verdict extends chapter u BoeingThe history of the company the company wants to end as it will continue to face the families of those killed in the accidents in 2018 and 2019 in court. Boeing has struggled for years since then, hemorrhaging money and drawing attention from regulators, lawmakers and the aviation public.
The judge also said July deal provisions “wrongly marginalize” the court in the selection and supervision of monitors. Boeing did not immediately comment on the judge’s decision. The Justice Department said it was reviewing the opinion.
The ruling throws the hot-button issue of the US culture war into one of the country’s most significant corporate prosecutions ever. Conservatives have begun to attack corporate and government policies that promote racial diversity, many of which were enacted four years ago after the police killing of George Floyd, a black resident of Minneapolis.
Boeing agreed in January 2021 pay 2.5 billion dollars defer prosecution of one count of accident fraud. The charge stemmed from misleading federal aviation regulators about the safety of the flight control system on the Max. The system was later involved in accidents, five months apart, in which a total of 346 people died.
Ministry of Justice remanded for deferred prosecution this year after a door panel flew off the Max at 16,000 feet during a commercial flight. The plaintiffs argued that Boeing had not fulfilled the terms of its earlier agreement.
The company pleaded guilty in July and agreed to appoint a corporate watchdog, but victims’ families have challenged both Boeing and prosecutors over the watchdog’s role and selection.
O’Connor said the size of the case against Boeing requires “the public to be convinced that the selection of monitors is made solely on the basis of competence. The efforts of the DEI parties only undermine this trust.”
O’Connor also said that if Boeing violated the 2021 deferred prosecution agreement, “the government’s attempt to ensure compliance has failed,” and the court, not prosecutors, should have a greater role in selecting and overseeing Boeing’s corporate monitor.
Boeing and the plaintiffs have 30 days to confer and notify the court of how they plan to proceed.
The families of the crash victims objected to DEI’s deliberations and asked O’Connor to block the deal struck this summer, saying it was too soft on the company. Lawyers for the victims’ families hailed Thursday’s ruling as a victory.
Erin Applebaum, one of the attorneys representing the families, called the verdict “an excellent decision” and said her clients “expect a significant renegotiation of the plea agreement that includes terms that are truly commensurate with the gravity of Boeing’s crimes.”
