Boeing's plea deal with federal prosecutors, aimed at resolving the US Justice Department's investigation into the 737 MAX fatal crashes that claimed 346 lives over a five-month span in 2018 and 2019, was rejected by a federal judge in Texas on Thursday due to an alarming DEI provision.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, US District Judge Reed O'Connor rejected the plea deal, stating that it improperly constrained the court by requiring diversity considerations in the selection of an outside monitor to oversee Boeing's future legal compliance.
O'Connor wrote that DoJ prosecutors gave him "shifting and contradictory explanations" of the role DEI would play in shaping the selection of a monitor:
"In a case of this magnitude, it is in the utmost interest of justice that the public is confident this monitor selection is done based solely on competency."
Headlines via Bloomberg so far:
BOEING PLEA DEAL OVER FATAL 737 MAX CRASHES REJECTED BY JUDGE
BOEING JUDGE REJECTS PLEA DEAL OVER DEI PROVISION
JUDGE HAD QUERIED DOJ'S DIVERSITY PROVISION FOR MONITOR CHOICE
BOEING JUDGE DIRECTS COMPANY, DOJ TO CONFER AND SET NEXT STEPS
O'Connor asked both parties, Boeing and DoJ, to discuss the next possible steps to move forward.
*Developing...
