TOPSHOT: On January 25, 2024, a person passes a United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 parked at Renton Municipal Airport, which is close to Boeing’s Renton, Washington, facility. Alaska Airlines stated on Thursday that it anticipates the Boei would cost it $150 million.
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A federal judge rejected Boeing’s plea deal related to deadly 737 Max crashes in 2017 and 2018.
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The judge expressed concerns over the use of diversity, equity and inclusion policies in hiring an independent monitor.
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The court argued it should have a more proactive role in Boeing’s compliance with the deal.
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A federal judge rejected Boeing’s plea deal related to deadly 737 Max crashes in 2017 and 2018.
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The judge expressed concerns over the use of diversity, equity and inclusion policies in hiring an independent monitor.
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The court argued it should have a more proactive role in Boeing’s compliance with the deal.
A plea deal from Boeing on a criminal fraud conspiracy charge linked to a Justice Department investigation into two fatal 737 Max jetliner crashes was denied by a federal judge in Texas.
The agreement’s use of diversity, equality, and inclusion policies to direct the appointment of independent compliance monitors raised concerns, according to Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas.
“While the Government assures the Court that the Government will consider all possible monitors (i.e., all backgrounds, etc.) but will choose a monitor solely based on merit and talent, the Court is skeptical of this assertion,” O’Connor stated.
According to the order, the government’s and Boeing’s usage of DEI directly violates public interest and ethics and anti-fraud initiatives.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is approving Boeing’s 737 Max for flying after almost two years and two fatal crashes.
The government’s capacity to employ an impartial watchdog and guarantee adherence was another issue the court was worried about.
Boeing would have had to maintain the compliance monitor or risk violating their probation under the terms of the rejected plea agreement. However, it did not mandate that they follow any of the anti-fraud guidelines.
“The Government has monitored Boeing for three years now,” O’Connor stated. “It is not clear what all Boeing has done to breach the Deferred Prosecution Agreement.”
The court underlined victim worries that a DPA breach happened on an Alaska Airlines aircraft when a door fell off a 737 Max and stated that it needed to be more involved in the monitor’s reporting.
If Boeing violated the contract, O’Connor claimed, “government’s attempt to ensure compliance has failed.”
The court was given thirty days to get an update from the sides.
Following two 737 MAX airplane crashes in 2018 and 2019 that claimed 346 lives in Indonesia and Ethiopia, the relatives of the victims demanded that Boeing be prosecuted in the criminal case.
On the felony criminal accusation of conspiracy to cheat the Federal Aviation Administration over a software feature connected to the deadly crashes, federal prosecutors had given Boeing the choice of going to trial or entering a guilty plea and paying a fine.
The accord included a $243.6 million fine for the aircraft maker.
Two days before the 2021 deferred prosecution agreement that shielded Boeing from prosecution for the fatal disasters in Ethiopia and Indonesia expired, the Alaska Airlines flight took place.
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This article’s information is based on prior Fox Business reporting and district court files.
This article’s information is based on prior Fox Business reporting and district court files.
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