Boeing still investigating Stonecipher paramour

CHICAGO — Boeing is investigating the activities of the female executive whose affair with then-CEO Harry Stonecipher led to his ouster, and could take action against her, the company said yesterday.

Spokesman John Dern said Boeing has no timetable for completing the investigation and declined to provide any other specifics. But a posting on Boeing's internal employee Web site acknowledged "many employees have asked" why the woman who was involved in a personal relationship with Stonecipher remains with the company while he was asked to resign.

"General Counsel Doug Bain said that while the investigation of Stonecipher is complete, the investigation of the female executive's actions surrounding the matter is still in process," said the posting. "If the facts of the completed investigation indicate that action is warranted, it will be taken," Bain said.

A Boeing source with knowledge of the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said management is examining the woman's recent travel, expenses on her company credit card and any other areas where inappropriate conduct might have occurred.

Several publications have named the woman based on unidentified sources, but The Seattle Times is not naming her at this time out of regard for her privacy.

Stonecipher, 68, resigned Sunday at the board's request after acknowledging the affair, which was initially reported to Boeing officials in a letter from an employee that was accompanied by a packet of material as evidence.

Chairman Lew Platt, who lauded the CEO's work at Boeing even while announcing his ouster Monday, said the dismissal did not result from the consensual relationship itself but from Stonecipher's conduct, which violated Boeing's ethics code.

That code states in part that employees shall not engage in conduct that "may cause embarrassment to the company."

Boeing officials have not disclosed more details. But the company source said yesterday that "inappropriate" e-mail exchanges between the two, included in the tipster's packet, "played a part" in Stonecipher's ouster.