Boeing CEO Promises Lawmakers a Return to ‘Robust Ethics’
Aug 7th, 2006 • Posted in: NewsWASHINGTON
Boeing’s CEO appeared before Congress last week and told lawmakers that he intends to build “one of the most robust ethics and compliance programs in corporate America,” a declaration that comes after a series of scandals that resulted in the firm paying $615 million to settle civil and criminal probes.
The Reuters news agency reported that James McNerney took full responsibility for the actions of Boeing employees and said the firm would not deduct the settlement charges from its taxes.
Boeing admitted that it hired a former Air Force procurement official who improperly steered government contracts to the firm, and that in a separate incident midlevel employees stole proprietary pricing information from rival Lockheed Martin.
McNerney said Boeing has introduced a rigorous ethics code and vowed that ethics will be “woven into the fabric” of the giant aerospace firm, which employs about 155,000 people, according to a report from the Associated Press.
But even as McNerney was detailing Boeing’s reforms, it was revealed that another investigation of the firm is under way, according to the Washington Post. Under questioning by Armed Services Committee member Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a government official said there is an ongoing probe of whether Boeing improperly hired another high-ranking Air Force official.
McNerney did not comment on the particulars of the case, declining to name the official, but he did say the person in question no longer worked at Boeing, according to the Post report.
The Chicago Tribune reported that sources close to the probe say the individual was a former general who went to work for Boeing as a lobbyist. According to the Tribune, the current probe centers on whether the general violated a federally mandated one-year “cooling off” period before a former government employee can lobby the government agencies he or she left.
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