Case Study Of Darleen Druyun's Role In Negotiation
Darleen Druyun, a former senior Air Force official who was fired from Boeing Co. last year, has taken great pains to protect her daughter from the fallout of an ethics scandal involving a $23.5 billion Pentagon contract.
On Tuesday, Druyun pleaded guilty to a criminal conspiracy count for discussing a Boeing job while she was negotiating a lease for 100 Boeing tanker aircraft. As part of her plea deal, prosecutors agreed not to go after Druyun's daughter, Heather
McKee, who has worked at Boeing for more than three years.
But federal court documents released this week show McKee played a central role in the secret negotiations that resulted in the hiring, and later firing, of her mother. Michael Sears, Boeing's chief financial officer and …show more content…
A Boeing spokesman declined to discuss
McKee's status, citing concerns about the privacy of employees.
Others argue McKee gave up her privacy when she participated in clandestine efforts to engage
Boeing in a bidding war for her mother.
"I would fire her in a second. She is the center point for the unethical conduct between her mother and Mike Sears," said Keith Ashdown, a defense expert with Taxpayers for Common Sense, a government watchdog group.
Adds Ken Boehm, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, "You could even view her as an unindicted co-conspirator."
According to court documents, McKee initiated the talks between Druyun and Boeing with an e-mail to Sears in early September 2002. The subject line of the e-mail read, "Please do not forward. ... RE:
Darleen Druyun.
Two days later, following a visit from her mother,
McKee laid out for Sears what Druyun wanted in a job.
"Must be challenging, tough, lots of responsibility.
Does not want something that puts her on display. Wants to impact processes, cut bureaucracy," McKee wrote.
McKee's message ended with an ironic twist:
On Tuesday, Druyun pleaded guilty to a criminal conspiracy count for discussing a Boeing job while she was negotiating a lease for 100 Boeing tanker aircraft. As part of her plea deal, prosecutors agreed not to go after Druyun's daughter, Heather
McKee, who has worked at Boeing for more than three years.
But federal court documents released this week show McKee played a central role in the secret negotiations that resulted in the hiring, and later firing, of her mother. Michael Sears, Boeing's chief financial officer and …show more content…
A Boeing spokesman declined to discuss
McKee's status, citing concerns about the privacy of employees.
Others argue McKee gave up her privacy when she participated in clandestine efforts to engage
Boeing in a bidding war for her mother.
"I would fire her in a second. She is the center point for the unethical conduct between her mother and Mike Sears," said Keith Ashdown, a defense expert with Taxpayers for Common Sense, a government watchdog group.
Adds Ken Boehm, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, "You could even view her as an unindicted co-conspirator."
According to court documents, McKee initiated the talks between Druyun and Boeing with an e-mail to Sears in early September 2002. The subject line of the e-mail read, "Please do not forward. ... RE:
Darleen Druyun.
Two days later, following a visit from her mother,
McKee laid out for Sears what Druyun wanted in a job.
"Must be challenging, tough, lots of responsibility.
Does not want something that puts her on display. Wants to impact processes, cut bureaucracy," McKee wrote.
McKee's message ended with an ironic twist: