Suit Filed by Fired Employee : Aerospace: Ex-Air Industries quality control inspector says dismissal came after he blew whistle on safety violations, prompting FBI inquiry.
A former employee of Air Industries Corp. has sued the aerospace parts maker, alleging that the company fired him after he blew the whistle on its practices and prompted a federal investigation into charges that it sold defective components to aircraft makers and the Pentagon.
Martin Barger, a former quality control inspector, accuses the Garden Grove company of wrongful termination and infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit, filed July 27 in Orange County Superior Court, does not specify the damages sought.
Marvin Krakow, attorney for Barger, would not discuss the court action, saying that his client is keeping a low profile out of concern for his safety. Air Industries’ lawyer would not comment.
According to the lawsuit, Barger began working as a quality control inspector for the company in March, 1990. The complaint contends that he was fired in April this year after the company discovered that he went to the FBI about its practices.
Barger asserts in his suit that Air Industries executives ordered him to skip necessary safety steps involved in the certification of aerospace fasteners, which are widely used in military and commercial aircraft.
When Barger raised questions about the practice, company managers removed him from his area of responsibility and ultimately fired him, the suit alleges.
In April, federal agents executed a search warrant against Air Industries Corp. in connection with an investigation of suspected fraud against the government.
Sam Higgins, president of the firm, said at the time that the company was not involved in any wrongdoing. Air Industries makes fasteners such as rivets and nuts for a wide variety of aerospace companies. Its annual sales are estimated at $70 million. According to an affidavit for a search warrant filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana in April, five former and current employees of Air Industries told the FBI that top managers at the company knew it was falsifying test results and shipping defective fasteners to the Pentagon and aircraft manufacturers. The employees told the FBI that the practice of shipping defective parts and falsifying records went back to January, 1990, the affidavit said. Boeing Co. quality inspectors audited Air Industries on Feb. 28, 1990, the affidavit said, and subsequently removed it from a list of acceptable suppliers, relegating the company to a “conditional” status.
And last year Boeing rejected titanium parts from Air Industries that contained oxygen contamination defects, which could cause the parts to become brittle and fail, the affidavit said. The company allegedly destroyed records for parts that failed tests, stamped false inspection approvals on records and knowingly shipped the parts to manufacturers.
