A whistleblower who accused a Boeing supplier of turning a blind eye to defects has died after a sudden illness: reports

• Joshua Dean was a quality auditor at Boeing supplier, Spirit AeroSystems.
• Dean died on Tuesday, months after testifying against his former employer. 
• In March, a Boeing whistleblower was found dead with a "self-inflicted gunshot wound."

A whistleblower who accused a Boeing supplier of ignoring manufacturing defects on the 737 Max died on Tuesday.

Former Spirit AeroSystems employee Joshua Dean, 45, died after contracting a sudden illness, The Seattle Times reported on Wednesday. Dean's aunt, Carol Parsons, told the outlet that Dean went to the hospital after he had trouble breathing some two weeks ago.

Parsons said her nephew was intubated, and his condition began to worsen. Dean developed pneumonia and MRSA, a serious bacterial infection, per The Seattle Times.

"Our thoughts are with Josh Dean's family. This sudden loss is stunning news here and for his loved ones," Joe Buccino, a spokesperson for Spirit, told The Seattle Times.

Dean testified against Spirit in a shareholder lawsuit last year, where the former quality auditor accused the company of poor quality control in the production of Boeing's 737 Max.

The company's unorthodox engineering practices came under scrutiny after The New York Times reported in March that it used liquid Dawn soap to lubricate a 737 Max door seal.

Spirit later said it tried using other household products like Vaseline and cornstarch as a lubricant before it settled on using Dawn soap, per The Times. Dawn soap is, however, documented under the Federal Aviation Administration's standards as a viable factory tool, Spirit told The Times.

Dean told The Wall Street Journal in January that Spirit fired him for pointing out wrongly drilled holes in fuselages.

"It is known at Spirit that if you make too much noise and cause too much trouble, you will be moved," Dean told The Journal. "It doesn't mean you completely disregard stuff, but they don't want you to find everything and write it up."

Spirit told The Journal that it disagreed with Dean's assertions, adding that it would defend itself in court.

Dean's death comes after the passing of Boeing whistleblower John Barnett, 62. Barnett died in March, in the middle of his deposition against Boeing.

The former Boeing manager died from "what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound," the Charleston County coroner's office told BI in a statement. No further details were provided.

Dean's lawyer, Brian Knowles, told The Seattle Times that he did not want to speculate about the timing and circumstances of Dean's death. Knowles also represented Barnett.

"Whistleblowers are needed. They bring to light wrongdoing and corruption in the interests of society. It takes a lot of courage to stand up," Knowles said of Dean.

For its part, Boeing has come under heightened scrutiny following repeated quality assurance lapses.

During its recent earnings call last month, Boeing revealed that it had posted a net loss of $355 million in its latest quarter. The company said it burned through $3.9 billion in cash in the year's first quarter.

"Near term, yes, we are in a tough moment," Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said in a letter to his employees on April 24.

Representatives for Knowles and Spirit AeroSystems did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.