A former Marine and Medal of Honor recipient has filed a lawsuit against BAE Systems, alleging his supervisor at the defense contractor defamed him and harmed his prospects for getting a new job. BAE pledged to “vigorously” fight the lawsuit.
Dakota Meyer, whose last rank was sergeant, accused the supervisor, identified as Bobby McCreight, of costing him a job by telling a Pentagon official that Meyer was mentally unstable , failed to complete tasks and “had a problem related to drinking in a social setting,” according to the lawsuit filed Monday. McCreight is also a defendant in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that McCreight came down on Meyer after Meyer raised objections about the company’s pursuit to sell advanced thermal optical scopes to Pakistan–an arrangement that must be approved by the State Department. He described the Pakistanis in an April email to McCreight as “guys that are known to stab us in the back.”
Meyer resigned from BAE on May 31 after less than three months on the job, concerned about the potential sale of the high-tech gear and believing he already had an opportunity to return to his previous employer, AUSGAR Technologies. The job would entail training U.S. soldiers under a government contract on the use of thermal optic equipment for snipers and teams hunting improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
Meyer’s hiring required the approval of the Pentagon’s program manager, Bob Higginson, who allegedly rejected Meyer after “one or more” phone conversations with McCreight in late May, when McCreight is accused of making the “false, defamatory, and malicious” comments, according to the lawsuit filed in a Texas state court and first reported in the Nov. 27 edition of the Wall Street Journal. He was notified on June 1 that he would not be getting the job even though AUSGAR initially wanted to hire him, the lawsuit said.
BAE commended Meyer for his service in the military while rejecting the accusations. The company also noted that the State Department decides on what military products can be sold to foreign countries.
“We are incredibly grateful to Dakota Meyer for his valiant service and bravery above and beyond the call of duty,” BAE spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said. “Although we strongly disagree with his claims, which we intend to vigorously defend through the appropriate legal process, we wish him success and good fortune in all his endeavors.“
“The U.S. Department of State, not BAE Systems, makes the decision on what defense-related products can be exported,” he said. “In recent years, the U.S. Government has approved the export of defense-related goods from numerous defense companies to Pakistan as part of the United States’ bilateral relationship with that country. “ McCreight is still with BAE and is also a decorated Marine,” Roehrkasse added.
BAE is headquartered in the United Kingdom but has an extensive operation in the United States, including in Texas, where Meyer was employed.
Meyer left the Marine Corps in May 2010. He received the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama at a White House ceremony on Sept. 15, becoming the first living Marine to receive the nation’s highest military honor since the Vietnam War.
Meyer was recognized for charging into enemy fire numerous times in attempts to the save the lives of wounded Marines and Afghan soldiers during an ambush in an Afghan village on September 8, 2009.