Is This the Largest Case of Corporate Injustice in U.S. History?

On May 23, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a deal allowing Boeing to avoid prosecution over the twin 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people, effectively granting Boeing immunity from criminal conviction. This decision has reignited debate about corporate accountability, the power of big business, and the staggering erosion of public trust in government oversight.

This deal, despite being labeled by a federal judge as a response to “the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history,” ensures Boeing will not be branded a felon. Instead, the company will pay just over $1.1 billion in penalties and compensation. To many observers, that number pales in comparison to the lives lost, the pain endured by families, and the sheer negligence involved in misleading regulators about the MCAS system — the flight control software implicated in the fatal crashes in Indonesia (2018) and Ethiopia (2019).

A Betrayal of Justice?

“This kind of non-prosecution deal is unprecedented and obviously wrong for the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history,” said Paul Cassell, attorney for victims’ families. Meanwhile, family members and critics argue that allowing Boeing to avoid a criminal trial sends a dangerous message: if your company is big enough, too many lives lost will still be met with a negotiated slap on the wrist.

The decision follows Boeing's violation of a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement, a deal reached under the Trump administration, which was supposed to hold the company accountable while keeping it in business.

Despite the DOJ reopening the case in 2024 after another safety incident involving a MAX 9 aircraft losing a door plug mid-air, the final agreement once again appears to prioritize economic continuity over genuine accountability.

Corporate Injustice: How Does Boeing Compare?

Is this the largest corporate injustice in U.S. history? There are a few contenders for that grim title: