What happens when a project goes south and becomes illegal? What should I do about this and who should I tell? They say I’ll get fired or hurt if I tell anyone and am worried for the safety of the team and others.

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Hard to say without full context, but a couple thoughts from a stranger on the internet:

1. Do not do anything you know is illegal. You can’t put a price on your integrity and “I was just following orders” does not hold up in court. Take care of your subordinates and don’t let them do anything illegal either.

2. Share your concerns with your leadership team in writing (email). Send copies discretely to a personal address.

3. If your leadership fails to address the issue, escalate outside the chain of command (ethics hotline, senior leadership, etc.). Same deal with doing it in writing and keeping copies.

4. If none of that works, gtfo of there. It’s not worth it.

If they fire you for bringing up an ethical concern consult an attorney. Might be a good idea to do that now if it’s already bad enough.

Good luck!

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"Just following orders" = the Eichman defense.

If you work at bbm, I think you just go for it. That is what they do.

What? You didn't know that going in?

You get a job at McKinsey and then complain about doing illegal stuff would be like getting a job with the Russian Mafia and then saying "they asked me to do unethical things..."

Well, yeah they did. That's just plain what they do. Did you not know that?

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Recent IconRecent

Call mckinsey’s ethics hotline

likefunnysmart

I mean hotline. Damn autocorrect and not wearing my glasses. In any case if they do I bet it's staffed by a bunch of crickets chirping.

Seruously.... do they have an ethics hotline?

There is no way they do. They do unethical things constantly.

Everywhere I’ve worked has an ethics/compliance hotline

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Ethics hotline does NOT work to protect you, works only to protect the company.

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McKinsey is getting really dicey these days, huh?

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I never get anything exciting like this

likefunny

Call ethics hotline immediately. Keep a paper trail

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No. Get a lawyer first.

likehelpful

Get a lawyer.

There are protections for whistleblowers, so don’t worry.

But nobody on this board should be advising you of anything other than to GET A LAWYER.

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You should have access to legal services as part of your benefits, even if reduced. Seriously, SC1 is correct— get a lawyer.
Ethics hotline is great on paper but when you could be in trouble it is not there for your benefit.

Lol. Wat?

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Wat

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Call your firm’s ethics hotline

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No. Get a lawyer first.

likehelpful

Are you dealing oxy to meet revenue model projections? Probably time to take the L on that one.

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Oh wait this is not a Deloitte post...well I have no idea what you do if you're not at a firm as committed to ethics as mine is.

funny

This is the FBI, we’ve found you.

likesmart

Then I would look into federal whistleblower hotlines. As mentioned above, suggest getting a lawyer involved

Find out how McKinsey handled situations like this in the past and do exactly the opposite.

funny

The opposite of rebates is stealing. Don’t advise OP to steal on top of this Lifetime Original Movie they are wrapped up in.

Op are you being serious? Your physical safety was threatened and you are asking for advice on FB? First call is to an attorney and right after that I would call the cops.

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To confirm, they're doing this because you have identified something wrong/illegal, not because they are jerks?

What country are you in?

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Ethics compliance hotline - use the global hotline if you don’t want to use your in-country hotline (assuming they’ll are different)

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But consult a lawyer first

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Call 911

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Doesn’t work...

Yeah answer depends on what country you’re in and if you’re with a global firm or not. Your best bet may be to just quietly leave the project

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I feel like you should know to the answer to this Q as a manager

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