a guy at work is being made a scape goat for something his manager has asked him to do. his managers actions are known buy senior management and they don't want to go down with the sinking ship so they've had a witch hunt and have decided on a scape goat. not good after 20 years service.
there are outside agencies that would find all this very interesting but it would blow up big style but it's so wrong seeing this bloke possibly lose his job and his dignity and self belief.

You have already said its so wrong, so you could choose to do something about it…a difficult choice.

I was in similar situation many years ago. Myself and another work colleague did/said something, at least it put our minds at rest, rather than further down the line wishing we should have done something….

Nick – you are also up bright and early thinking about it. Probably better to act and put your mind at rest rather than dwell on it for years to come

Ask the fella how he feels about it, he may be offered a good deal for accepting his fate and may not be too bothered, if not blow the whistle no matter what. If the management is that bad they could easily screw up again and take out the lot of you!!

could be you next time with no one in your corner if they get away with it now

As Doog says – have a chat with the scapegoat. I would be very tempted to wistleblow myself but its hard to say for sure without more details

Do you have a friendly manager to discuss it with?

I bet you are not in a union. Join one

It's pretty hard to comment without knowing the specifics and there are some assumptions/inconsistencies in your statement that could massively alter what is the right course of action.
So here are the challenges but they aren’t meant as a criticism, just a sort of ‘stress test’ because you’ve got a tough choice on your hands and you need to be really sure about the facts before you act.
• Can you be 100% sure that the actions you say the individual undertook were at the direction of that person’s manager? Being 100% sure would mean you were in the room at the time the manager instructed this individual; anything else is simply second hand reporting and given the outcome, the ‘scapegoat’ could quite understandably be lying about what he was told to do.
• How can you be so sure that senior management are complicit? Again, were they in the room at the same time or were you in the room when the scapegoat’s manager told senior management what he had instructed him to do?
• Can you be sure about the senior management’s motivation for allowing the scapegoat to take the blame, are there not reasons for this that you might not be able to see?
• If the ‘ship is going down’ anyway, then where is the motivation for the senior managers to be complicit in this witch hunt? Is it possible that by having a scapegoat, they save a much bigger prize? If you whistle blow the situation, will that result in the failure of the orgainsation and the loss of everyone’s jobs and how do you think you will feel if that happens because of your direct action?
• Are you sure that the scapegoat wants you to stand up for him? It could be that senior management have talked to him and assured him that he will be very well looked after for the sake of the company if he ‘takes the rap’. He might be OK with this, in fact he might be welcoming of it if things are as bad as you suggest.
• I am not sure I am getting the connection between the actions of the ‘scapegoat’, the conspiracy of the senior managers and the ‘sinking ship’. Is the company already in failure regardless of this situation?
Again, not a criticism, just an attempt to help you make sense of the situation. Best of luck; things aren’t always what they seem and so often in life there isn’t a ‘right thing to do’.

Have you a union ? are you in it ?If you have and are not a member join it tomorrow morning .I am not always a fan of the way unions work but if what you are hinting at is true then they will fight tooth and nail for you .Sound out the malligned colleague as well, re union stuff and as posted above whether he wants you to stand up for him or not.

cheers all.
it's a house of cards which will come tumbling down but maybe that's what it needs.
geetee, seen it been there and seen it with my own eyes. and i'm sure the management are complicit as i emailed them and told them three years ago!

Is it something that is wrong and should be stopped even without your mate getting blamed for it?

Foreign corrupt practices, by any chance?

Do it, injustice is bad news.
If you discussed it with the victim you might not really get his point of view anyway. Think of the other potential victims and yourself. If its wrong it needs to be sorted out.

Sadly the same sort of thing happened at Staffordshire general hospital,lots of people died, and at last a manager got sacked,for trying to manipulate a report, the same happened with shipman the killer dr,nobody whistle blew.

Blow the whistle anonymously, a few lines on a page to the relevant authorities, keep copies, also send them to the local papers, and anyone else you can think of, and tell them who you have sent them to,only then will there be an inquiry,as the shit hits the fan.

Do you really want to be part of a failing company with little morals.

it's a secondary school! the head of department has been getting the technician to make kids projects for them. it's been going on for years!

Making kids projects for them in order to get better results and improve success rates?? Why do they need to make the projects for them? Why aren't the kids doing it? Or why haven't any kids complained about it??

I feel really sorry for the kids, who havent learnt how to use tools and materials and had something to show their parents.

The whole point of education is just that that you educate the kids not do the work for them.

Theyll end up in IT with no freinds probably.