It turns out Dakota Meyer won’t sue his former employer for smearing his reputation after all. Barely two weeks after the first living Marine to win the Medal of Honor since Vietnam filed suit against defense giant BAE Systems, BAE announced late Thursday that they had settled their dispute “amicably.”
“BAE Systems has the highest respect for Sgt. Dakota Meyer, who exemplifies the qualities that make the men and women of our armed services the best in the world,” BAE said in a statement. “We owe him and the many thousands of others who have served and sacrificed for our country our deepest thanks.”
The terms of the settlement were not mentioned in the statement. BAE spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said they’re “confidential.” Meyer’s lawyer, Thomas Nesbitt, declined to discuss them as well.
Meyer claimed in his lawsuit that his old BAE supervisor, Bobby McCreight, disparaged Meyer’s mental health and his sobriety to a Defense Department official, which resulted in a competing company declining to hire him. Meyer further claimed that his dispute with McCreight arose from Meyer’s dissatisfaction at the prospect of BAE selling advanced rifle sights to the Pakistani military, which Meyer distrusts.
The lawsuit was a P.R. disaster for BAE, one of the world’s leading defense corporations. Roehrkasse said there had been “a lot of erroneous information” put out about the case. When asked if BAE was implicitly conceding any of Meyer’s allegations, he said he “can’t comment beyond what we’ve said in the statement.”
For his part, McCreight denied Meyer’s charges — strenuously. “Mr. Meyer’s accusation of retaliation has been fabricated,” lawyers for McCreight alleged in a motion before a Bexar County, Texas court this month, “and added to this lawsuit to gain publicity.” McCreight, who describes himself in the filing as a mentor to Meyer, further said he encouraged Meyer to share his concerns about the prospective Pakistan sale to BAE higher-ups.
But the issue would appear to be moot. In the statement, Meyer said he was “gratified” to learn that BAE “did not ultimately sell and does not intend to sell advanced thermal scopes to Pakistan.” He will drop his lawsuits against both BAE — which he said performs “important work… to protect the men and women of the U.S. military” — and McCreight.
It is not clear from the statement what compelled Meyer to change his mind. The lawsuit was not primarily about the scope sale, but rather about the slander and retaliation charges. Those go unmentioned in the statement.
Meyer’s public image took an unexpected hit this week when the McClatchy news service alleged that some of his exploits in Afghanistan resulting in his Medal of Honor were exaggerated or fabricated. Both the White House and the Marine Corps ardently defended Meyer on Thursday.
Meyer did not return a message seeking comment. His attorney, Nesbitt, was “not at liberty” to discuss the terms of the lawsuit, Nesbitt said.
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