Subordinate: "We can't do xyz."
Y-M: "Sure you can. You guys are the best in the company."
S: "Thanks for the compliment, but nobody here is going to do xyz. We don't want to go to jail."
Y-M: "What does xyz have to do with jail?"
S: "What you are telling us to do is illegal and none of us here will do it without written instructions to do it. Even then, none of us will do it, but the [3-letter Federal enforcement agency] would be very interested in seeing any written instructions."
Turns out it was a test. The CxO knew it was illegal and also knew Y-M should have known it was illegal. Y-M was gone the following week...
