A federal judge reviewing Boeing’s plea deal with prosecutors wants to know how the Justice Department’s diversity, equity and inclusion policy will affect the selection of an independent monitor to oversee the aerospace company during a three-year trial period.
Reed O’Connor, a conservative U.S. District Judge nominated to the federal bench in Fort Worth, Texas in 2007 by President George W. Bush, ordered the Justice Department to explain how it selects the monitor and whether there are DEI considerations. – influence choice.
The judge asked Boeing whether it would follow its own DEI policy to block the proposed monitor.
The appointment of an independent monitor to make sure Boeing is following compliance and safety regulations is a key component of the deal under which Boeing agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the US government.
O’Connor has long been a favorite of conservative lawyers seeking a court to hear lawsuits against the policies of Democratic presidents. In 2018, a judge struck down President Barack Obama’s landmark Affordable Care Act, although the US Supreme Court overturned that decision. He also sought to deny broad rights to transgender people.
Attacks on diversity, equality and inclusion have become a hot topic among conservative Republican politicians. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis campaigned for the GOP presidential nomination against “woke” liberal policies, though his bid failed. Many states, including Texas, have new laws limiting or prohibiting DEI policies at public universities.
Conservatives argue that DEI allows less qualified people to get into colleges or get important jobs that affect public safety. Some conservatives on social media blamed Boeing’s DEI policy after a door stopper exploded on an Alaska Airlines flight in January.
Boeing settled with the Justice Department in July and the company agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud federal regulators who approved pilot training requirements for Boeing’s newest version of its venerable 737, the 737 Max.
As a result, airlines and pilots were unaware of the new flight control system, called MCAS, until it played a role in a fatal crash in Indonesia in October 2018. MCAS was again involved in the second fatal Max crash in March 2019. Ethiopia. A total of 346 people died.
The plea agreement will require Boeing to pay $243.6 million in fines, spend at least $455 million on compliance and safety programs and accept oversight by an independent monitor.
Boeing and the Justice Department want O’Connor to approve the deal, which would replace a 2021 agreement that allowed Boeing to avoid prosecution, but has done little to address concerns about the company’s commitment to safety and quality.
The Federal Aviation Administration increased its scrutiny of Boeing after the January gate jam, and whistleblowers alleged that the company had ignored safety concerns.
Relatives of the passengers who died in the crashes want O’Connor to reject a plea deal they call a sweetheart deal. They want Boeing to be prosecuted and face stiffer penalties. They specifically oppose the division on the monitor because they want the judge to choose the monitor, not the government and Boeing.
Nadia Milleron, the Massachusetts woman whose daughter Samya Stumo died in the Ethiopian crash, said Wednesday she didn’t know how to answer a judge’s questions about choosing a monitor.
“It seems trivial to me,” Milleron said. “The main thing is safety and if the referee is after safety, great. I don’t understand his agenda with DEI.”
Corporate behavior experts say the monitor could do more to improve security than in 2021, when a person is truly independent and can report any concerns directly to a court without going through the Justice Department. The monitor will monitor Boeing’s adherence to security protocols and actions to prevent future acts of fraud.
During last week’s hearing, O’Connor asked attorneys for the government and Boeing how the monitor and DEI policies might affect the selection. The plea agreement says the Justice Department will choose someone with “input” from Boeing.
A Justice Department lawyer said the provision does not mean a less qualified person will be selected, just that the government will consider all candidates. Boeing lawyers did not object to the monitoring selection process outlined in the plea agreement.
In an order Tuesday, the judge wrote that it is important to know whether DEI’s considerations will promote Boeing’s safety and compliance efforts. He asked the Department of Justice and Boeing to respond in writing by October 25.
“Both DOJ and Boeing have publicly acknowledged their commitment to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion (‘DEI’), including the government’s plan to leverage diversity and equity in federal employee hiring, O’Connor wrote.
Boeing’s website, it added, is a “culture of inclusion” and a “set of aspirations” it will strive to achieve by 2025 to promote equality and diversity and build a culture of inclusion, including racial quotas and more hiring. declares his commitment”. Black workers.
In considering whether to accept the plea agreement, O’Connor wrote, “it’s important to know: how this provision promotes safety and compliance efforts at Boeing” and whether it would strike a petitioner based on the company’s own DEI commitment.
It’s unclear whether the judge will rule on DEI policies or take over the matter to overturn the plea agreement.
“I don’t see it as a strategic move, but I don’t see it as a way that’s justified by the court’s skepticism about DEI,” said John Coffey, a Columbia University law professor who studies corporate governance and white-collar crime and followed the Boeing case. “He is a conservative. “Maybe he wants to delay the decision, but this is an unsupported hypothesis.”
The Justice Department and Boeing said they would comply with the judge’s order and declined to comment further.