The complaint spans race, age, disability, and whistleblower claims across two states
A former engineer has filed a 24-count federal lawsuit against Lockheed Martin, alleging the defense contractor used its diversity programs to discriminate against him because he is white.
The complaint, filed September 14, 2026, in the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, alleges the engineer - a white male in his early 60s with roughly four decades of aerospace experience - was stripped of assignments, shut out of internal transfers, and fired after raising concerns about racial bias and suspected irregularities on Department of Defense contracts.
At the heart of the complaint are Lockheed Martin's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and Black Excellence Council (BEC) initiatives. According to the filing, these programs were used to "prioritize the hiring, promoting and discriminating activities as a tool against all other races." The engineer claims managers repeatedly gave his work and professional opportunities to younger Black employees, including a certification role the complaint says had been promised to him.
The filing alleges a senior manager told the engineer, in substance, that "white people are a problem" - a remark the complaint frames as evidence of racial hostility. The same manager allegedly commented on his first day, according to the filing, "at your age and amount of experience, this project should not be difficult for you."
The engineer alleges he was hired in July 2023 and placed on the Long Range Hypersonic Weapon program at Lockheed Martin's Huntsville, Alabama facility. According to the complaint, he quickly flagged concerns that project work lacked proper government authorization, that suppliers were operating without formal subcontracts, and that a manager may have received a gift from a supplier involved in the work - conduct the filing characterizes as potential violations of federal procurement law and the Anti-Kickback Act.
After raising those issues, the complaint alleges, the engineer was pulled off the project, told his job was at risk, and subjected to escalating retaliation. The filing says he applied for more than 45 internal positions to transfer away from the situation, but claims roughly 29 of those applications vanished from Lockheed Martin's HR system. The complaint also alleges someone redirected his application notifications to an email address he did not create.
When the engineer moved to a classified program at the company's Marietta, Georgia site, the alleged pattern followed him under a different manager, according to the filing. The complaint claims this manager manipulated financial spreadsheets and data used in program cost reporting, shifted the engineer's active work to other employees, and made demeaning remarks about his age. When the engineer tried to flag discrepancies during a meeting, the filing alleges the manager told him, "Stop talking, I don't want to hear you" and "I know where you are going with this."
The complaint says the engineer filed formal ethics complaints in October 2023 and June 2024 and reported concerns to HR, ethics officers, and leadership. According to the filing, the internal investigation was compromised because the assigned ethics investigator also served as an adviser to the very manager under investigation.
The engineer's health deteriorated as a result of the alleged conduct, according to the complaint. He took approved short-term disability leave in January 2025. The filing alleges Lockheed Martin then cut his income and health benefits, interfered with his long-term disability claim, refused to engage in accommodation discussions, and terminated him on February 12, 2025 - seven days before his disability benefits were set to run out.
The lawsuit spans an unusually broad set of legal theories. The 24 counts include Title VII race discrimination and retaliation, Section 1981 race claims, age discrimination and retaliation under the ADEA, ADA disability discrimination and failure to accommodate, ERISA benefit interference, whistleblower retaliation under both defense-contractor and federal-contractor statutes, False Claims Act retaliation, Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank retaliation, Anti-Kickback Act allegations, FMLA retaliation, and state-law claims for breach of contract, fraud, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress under both Alabama and Georgia law.
The engineer, who is representing himself, seeks back pay, compensatory and punitive damages, reinstatement, restoration of benefits, and injunctive relief.
The allegations in this complaint have not been tested in court, and no judge has ruled on any of the claims.
