U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor has introduced a fresh twist to Boeing’s high-stakes plea deal with the Department of Justice, a resolution set to address the company’s role in two fatal 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019. Central to the judge’s focus is a brief reference to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the DOJ’s plan to appoint an independent compliance monitor.
Under the agreement, Boeing pleads guilty to conspiring to mislead the Federal Aviation Administration about the MCAS flight control system implicated in the Lion Air and Ethiopian crashes. The deal includes three years of probation, a $487.2 million fine, and spending $455 million on safety and compliance reforms. It also mandates a monitor, appointed by the DOJ with Boeing’s input, to oversee Boeing’s compliance. O’Connor’s inquiry centers on the potential role of DEI principles in selecting this monitor.
Boeing’s plea deal is controversial.
- The government says that what many consider to be a sweetheart deal, and whitewashing of the rights of 737 MAX victims, is the best they can do based on what they believe they can prove in court.
- Critics say that politically-influential Boeing is viewed as too strategically important to be held accountable.
It is certainly an unusual plea deal known as a ‘C-plea’ that ties the hands of the judge in terms of sentencing, using a guidelines calculation based on not having caused any harm (contrary to a previous ruling by the judge that in killing 346 people this was the “deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history”).
Regarding the importance of Boeing, the plea deal notes that “the Boeing Company is a pillar of the American economy and a pillar of the national defense. The Boeing Company employs 170,000, approximately, people.”
One impediment to the deal, though, is the judge’s questioning of the role of DEI in monitoring Boeing compliance with the agreement, specifically how DEI principles will affect the monitor selection process and enhance compliance with U.S. fraud laws.
- The plea requires selection of a monitor consistent DOJ commitment to diversity and inclusion.
- The judge seeks information on “what role Boeing’s internal focus on DEI impacts its compliance and ethics obligations” and how the government’s diversity policy “furthers compliance and ethics efforts.”
As Judge O’Connor evaluates the DOJ’s and Boeing’s responses, he faces mounting pressure to decide whether the deal adequately addresses Boeing’s accountability and the interests of the victims’ families. If the plea deal proceeds, With the court’s deadline to provide information approaching today, the ruling here has significant implications for the role of DOJ DEI policy imposed as part of holding corporations accountable for their actions.
So the white guys who are basically responsible for this debacle get a free pass while we wring our hands over some hypothetical future non-white, non-guy who might be incompetent.
Judge Reed is a Republican-appointed judge who is no fan of inclusive, diverse workplaces.
That judge wouldn’t even be appointed if it weren’t for DEI. The Electoral College is DEI for rural people, which is how the person who appointed him got elected in the first place.
@LAX Tom
GFY with your overt racism based on your own failures, jealousy and inadequacy. Sounds like DEI is the only way you can get a job.
This isn’t about “diverse, inclusive workplaces,” and this isn’t about the judge’s politics or the “pass” for the people who caused the debacle (no, they shouldn’t get a pass, but that’s a topic Turley actually addressed!). It’s about whether any factor other than expertise should go into the appointment of this person. Nobody responsible for making, maintaining, or flying these craft safely should be chosen for any other reason than capability.
Uncle Jeff nailed it. DEI for the legacy majority demographic group is why there is so much opposition to DEI for minorities and historically underrepresented people in privileged positions of power and influence and opportunity for themselves and those whom they see as their own or their own tribe.
**** and they want to keep privileged positions of power and influence and opportunity for themselves and those whom they see as their own or their own tribe.****
And who made this case end up in a US federal district coust in Texas with a court and a judge notorious for being a reliable supporter of Republican policy efforts and a reliable opponent of Democratic policy efforts? Sounds like someone picked a court they considered to be politically friendly to themselves and knee-jerk hostile to political opponents.
@GUWonder
Don’t make your frustration about the way the Presidential election is slipping away from your type get you down…. Just the tip of the iceberg coming your way, you better pace yourself!
Frustration? ROTFLOL
Not at all, as I said before: I have been anticipating his winning this election for at least the last 3 years. And I am of the school of thought that people deserve the politicians they get in a democracy. I most certainly do think Tr*mp is a low-class sleaze-ball, but Tr*mp winning the White House for a second time would just signify that the country has lost its post-WW2 moral beacon in line with the cultural rot that arises from insecurity peddled by self-serving types in positions of power and influence.
DEI initiatives are intended to prevent capable people from being overlooked for reasons that have nothing to do with how capable they are. They’re the antidote to a century of hiring incompetent people because of who they know and/or because they look the part.