Judge rules against adding compliance monitor in Boeing DPA

A federal judge in Texas ruled against a request by the families of those killed in two Boeing 737 MAX crashes to alter the terms of a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) between the company and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to add an independent compliance monitor.

Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas blocked the families’ demand to impose a compliance monitor on Boeing as part of its DPA, among other requests.

In a decision filed Thursday, Judge O’Connor said the court did not have the authority to add new conditions to the three-year DPA, under which Boeing agreed to pay more than $2.5 billion in penalties and compensation to victims. Boeing also agreed to remedial changes to the way it reviews potential safety issues in its aircraft.