ST. LOUIS — A Boeing employee in St. Louis filed a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment, retaliation and discrimination after allegedly enduring years of inappropriate behavior and unaddressed complaints at the company.
Aysin Koparan, who worked at Boeing for 15 years and most recently held the position of senior business operation lead, claims that her work environment became hostile after she raised concerns about sexual harassment and workplace misconduct, according to a complaint initially filed in St. Louis Circuit Court and removed to U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Koparan, a resident of St. Louis County, outlines a series of incidents in her complaint that began in August 2022 when Greg Corcoran, a senior lead engineer, allegedly made inappropriate sexual comments during a company gathering.
At a happy hour event on Aug. 17, 2022, Corcoran allegedly asked Koparan in front of colleagues, “When did you have sex last?” When she refused to answer, he continued with further personal and inappropriate questions.
Koparan confronted him at the event and later followed up via text, requesting that he refrain from making such comments in the future. Corcoran apologized, but according to Koparan, the harassment did not stop.
Koparan reported the incident to her supervisor, Ryan Taylor, and the matter was escalated to Boeing’s ethics department.
However, Koparan claims that the investigation was insufficient and that Corcoran continued to harass her.
Koparan also alleged that this was not the first time she had faced harassment at Boeing, noting in the complaint a 2019 incident in which another manager made inappropriate advances.
Koparan claims that Boeing’s culture, particularly among its engineers, tolerated sexual harassment and failed to take meaningful action against offenders.
Following her complaints, Koparan claims she faced retaliation.
She claims she was excluded from important work meetings, saw her assignments handed to less qualified employees, and received her first negative performance review after years of stellar evaluations.
In a performance review meeting, Taylor allegedly expressed frustration that the ethics investigation had taken up too much of his time and impacted his work, implying that Koparan’s complaint was a burden on him.
Throughout 2023, Koparan took Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave to care for her daughter, who had attempted suicide, and her husband, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Koparan claims that her leave use further isolated her from her colleagues and that she was ultimately terminated in September 2023.
Meanwhile, Corcoran, whose behavior Koparan had reported, faced no disciplinary action, and his career continued to flourish, according to the suit.
Koparan claims Boeing created a hostile environment based on her national origin, alleging that both Taylor and Corcoran made derogatory comments about her Turkish background.
Additionally, Koparan claims that Boeing ignored her whistleblower complaints about quality failures in aircraft parts, which she had raised in her capacity as an expert on safety and quality metrics.
Koparan is seeking compensation for lost wages, emotional distress and attorney fees, as well as punitive damages, arguing that Boeing’s conduct was reckless and motivated by an intent to retaliate against her for speaking out. She is represented by Jeffrey D. Hackney of HKM Employment Attorneys in St. Louis.
Boeing is represented by Erin E. Williams, Mallory S. Zoia and Avery R. Lubbes of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart in St. Louis.
Attorneys for the parties declined to comment on the matter.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri case number: 4:24-cv-01383