Getty ImagesA Boeing deal intended to settle a lawsuit related to two fatal crashes of its planes has been rejected by a US judge.
The plane maker agreed with the US government in July to plead guilty to one count of fraud, face private employment, and pay a $243m (£191m) fine.
However, Judge Reed O'Connor threw out the deal on Thursday, saying it was in contempt of court and that the separate requirements for hiring a security guard “conflict”.
Family members of 346 people died in these accidents welcomed the decision, describing the plea agreement as “Boeing's get-out-of-jail-free card”.
The Department of Justice said it is reviewing the decision. Boeing did not immediately comment.
In his ruling, Judge O'Connor said the government's oversight of the company over the years had “failed”.
“For now, the needs of the community require the Court to intervene,” he wrote.
He said the proposed deal does not require Boeing to comply with the watchdog's recommendations and gives the company a chance to choose a candidate.
Those problems were also raised in other families of those who died in the planes, who criticized it as a “sweetheart” arrangement that does not hold the company accountable for death..
Judge O'Connor also focused on the terms of the agreement that race should be taken into account when hiring a security guard, which he said would reduce the trust of the appointee.
He said he was concerned about “changing and conflicting interpretations of how the treaty's diversity and inclusion provisions… work”.
“In such a matter, it is in the hands of the judiciary that the public has hope that this selection of the guardian is made based on power alone,” he wrote.
“DEI's efforts at parties only serve to undermine this trust in government and Boeing's ethical 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 settlement.
“This agreement did not hold anyone responsible for the deaths of 346 people and did nothing to protect the public,” said in a statement provided by their lawyer.
They said they hoped that this decision would pave the way for “real justice”.
An ongoing problem
Boeing and the Department of Justice have 30 days to come up with a new plan to respond to the problem.
The plane maker has been struggling to emerge from the shadow cast by two near-identical crashes of its 737 Max planes in 2018 and 2019.
Aerospace giant it ran into trouble again in January when a door on a new Boeing jet operated by Alaska Airlines blew off shortly after takeoff.
The incident has brought back questions about what Boeing has done to improve its safety and quality record since accidents tied to the company's flight control system.
The door panel malfunction occurred shortly before the end of a three-year period of increased monitoring and reporting.
Boeing had agreed to the hiring as part of a 2021 plea deal to settle a lawsuit that it misled regulators about the flight control system.
In May, the Justice Department said Boeing violated the terms of that agreement, opening the door to prosecution.
Instead, the two sides struck another deal, angering families who had hoped the company would appear in court.
In the decision, Judge O'Connor wrote that it is “not clear what exactly” Boeing did to violate the 2021 agreement.
Still, he wrote, “it is taken for granted that Boeing violated the law [deal]it is fair to say that the government's efforts to ensure compliance have failed”.
Erin Appelbaum, a partner at Kreindler & Kreindler, which represents some of the families of those killed in the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, called Thursday's decision a “great decision and a huge victory” for the victims' families.
“We expect a significant renegotiation of the plea agreement that includes terms that are truly commensurate with the seriousness of Boeing's crimes,” he said.
“It's time to be [Department of Justice] to end Boeing's mismanagement and demand real accountability.”
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