Getty ImagesA US judge has rejected Boeing’s plea deal that was meant to settle a case related to two fatal crashes of its planes.
The plane maker originally agreed in July to plead guilty to one count of criminal fraud against the US government, face independent supervision and pay a $243m (£191m) fine.
However, Judge Reed O’Connor on Thursday rejected the agreement, saying it gave the court too little authority over the monitoring process.
Family members of 346 people died in the accident. He welcomed the decision, describing the plea agreement as a “get-out-of-jail-free card for Boeing.”
The Justice Department said it is reviewing the decision. Boeing had no immediate comment.
In his ruling, Judge O’Connor said the regime’s oversight of the firm had “failed” in the past year.
“At this point, the public interest requires that he step into court,” he wrote.
He said the proposed contract did not require Boeing to follow the monitor’s recommendations and allowed the company to choose a candidate.
These issues were also raised by some families of those killed in the flights. who criticized it as a “sweetheart” arrangement that did not hold the firm adequately responsible for the deaths..
Judge O’Connor also focused on the deal’s requirement that race be considered when hiring monitors, which he said would undermine confidence in the election.
He said he was “concerned about the shifting and conflicting explanations of how the diversity and inclusion provision of the plea agreement … will work”.
“In a case of this magnitude, it is in the utmost interest of justice that the public be assured that this monitor has been selected on the basis of merit alone,” he wrote.
“The parties’ DEI efforts only serve to undermine that confidence in the government’s and Boeing’s ethics and anti-fraud efforts.”
Ike and Susan Riffel of California, who lost their two sons, Melvin and Bennett, said the judge did “the right thing” in rejecting the proposed deal.
“The deal did nothing to hold anyone responsible for the deaths of 346 people and do nothing to protect the flying public,” he said. said In a statement provided by his lawyer.
He said he hoped the verdict would pave the way for “real justice”.
An ongoing crisis
Boeing and the Justice Department have 30 days to come up with a new plan in response to the ruling.
The planemaker is struggling to emerge from the shadow of two near-identical crashes of its 737 Max planes in 2018 and 2019.
The aerospace giant Crisis erupted again in January when a door panel on a new Boeing plane operated by Alaska Airlines blew off shortly after takeoff.
The incident reignited questions about what Boeing had done to improve its safety and quality record since the accidents, which were linked to the company’s flight control system.
The door panel malfunction occurred shortly before the end of the three-year monitoring and reporting period.
Boeing agreed to the oversight as part of a 2021 plea deal to resolve allegations that it cheated regulators over its flight control system.
In May, the Justice Department said Boeing had violated the terms of the agreement, opening the possibility of litigation.
Instead, the two sides struck another deal, angering families who had hoped to see the company brought to trial.
In the ruling, Judge O’Connor wrote that it was “not clear” what Boeing had done to breach the 2021 agreement.
Nevertheless, he wrote, “It is true that Boeing violated it. [deal]it is fair to say that the government’s effort to ensure compliance has failed.”
Erin Appelbaum, a partner at Kreindler & Kreindler, which represents some of the families of those killed in the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash, called Thursday’s decision an “excellent decision and an important victory” for the victims’ families.
“We anticipate a significant renegotiation of the plea agreement that includes terms that are commensurate with the gravity of Boeing’s crimes,” he said.
“It’s about time [Department of Justice] Demanding an end to Boeing’s leniency and real accountability.”