I need to step in here with a major correction, John Barnett was not Whistleblowing. That's not what the court case was about at all.
No, the court case was for the wrongful termination, which was a result of his whistleblowing.
This is an important distinction, because the whistleblowing was done. John Barnett had nothing more to offer authorities, because he had already turned over all the evidence he collected. That particular case was a done deal years ago.
John Barnett then sued Boeing over his wrongful termination, and some apparent black balling. (i.e. retaliatory rumormongering to prevent John from working in aerospace).
John lost the lawsuit. He then appealed that decision, and it wasn't going well.
This is the situation that led to his suicide. Boeing 100% drove a man to kill himself. But no, they didn't fucking hire some guy to go kill John Barnett, that would be fucking stupid.