A US District Court judge approved a class action against Boeing on 7 March 2025, led by Rhode Island Treasurer James A Diossa, alleging serious safety issues and misleading statements.
The lawsuit involves claims against Boeing’s former and current executives concerning false representations that inflated the company’s stock price from October 2019 to January 2024.
Judge Brinkema narrowed the class action period, establishing it to begin on 7 January 2021, coinciding with a deferred prosecution agreement related to B737 MAX safety problems.
The judge also ruled that the class action period would end on 8 January 2024, identifying the Alaska Airlines incident as pivotal in understanding Boeing’s safety risk materialisation.
The ruling includes deadlines for expert reports, with all discovery to be completed by 9 May 2025.
Rhode Island Treasurer James A Diossa slaimed “Boeing betrayed the trust of Rhode Island pensioners and must be held accountable for their actions.”
Judge Brinkema ruled “Plaintiffs have also not sufficiently shown that the allegedly fraudulent statements during this period could have maintained safety-related inflation in Boeing’s stock price, given that the statements were made soon after the 2018 and 2019 crashes of B737 MAX aircraft. By January 8, 2024, it was clear that the Alaska Airlines incident resulted from the materialisation of safety-related risk at Boeing.”
