Former Boeing employee Joseph Sicilia alleged that Boeing demoted and fired him in retaliation for raising concerns about possible violations of government regulations. Sicilia, who worked in Boeing’s ethics office, claimed that he repeatedly raised concerns about the company’s compliance with federal acquisition regulations, but that his concerns were never investigated and managers began to retaliate against him by denying travel requests necessary to perform his duties, verbally abusing him, giving him poor work evaluations, and ultimately firing him. His lawsuit alleged wrongful discharge in violation of public policy, and violations of the Washington Law Against Discrimination, the Washington State Family Leave Act, the Illinois Whistleblower Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, and the False Claims Act. The lawsuit settled in 2011.