WASHINGTON/SEATTLE (Reuters) - Boeing Co current and former company directors have reached a $237.5 million proposed settlement with shareholders to settle a lawsuit over the board’s safety oversight of the 737 MAX aircraft, documents released on Friday show.
Following two fatal 737 MAX crashes in the space of five months in 2018-19 that killed 346 people, Boeing’s best selling plane was grounded for 20 months and returned to service after the company made significant software and training improvements.
The proposed agreement, which is being filed in Delaware Chancery Court and was confirmed by Boeing, will require the election of an additional board director with aviation/aerospace, engineering, or product safety oversight expertise within one year.
New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and the Fire and Police Pension Association of Colorado, the lead plaintiffs, said the settlement if approved will be the largest monetary recovery in a lawsuit filed in the Delaware Courts over allegations that directors failed to protect against the risk of harm.
Boeing’s board “failed in their fiduciary responsibility to monitor safety and protect the company, its shareholders and its customers from unsafe business practices and admitted illegal conduct,” DiNapoli said. “It is our hope, moving forward, that the reforms agreed to in this settlement will help safeguard Boeing and the flying public against future tragedy and begin to restore the company’s reputation.”