Saudi Dissident Omar Abdulaziz's Lawsuit Against McKinsey Filed in Federal Court

Omar Abdulaziz, a Montreal-based Saudi activist who sought asylum in Canada in 2013, files a lawsuit in the Supreme Court, County of New York (later removed to federal court) against McKinsey & Company, alleging the consulting firm reported on him to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, resulting in attempts by Saudi officials to forcibly repatriate, threaten and assassinate him. The lawsuit centers on McKinsey’s December 2016 report that identified Abdulaziz as one of three influential social media critics of Saudi Arabia and MBS, describing him as having ‘182.65 K’ followers and characterizing him as a ‘Saudi influencer with high following.’ After being named in McKinsey’s report, Abdulaziz testifies that Saudi authorities ‘imprisoned and tortured’ his family, friends and associates, with his brothers and friends ‘waterboarded and electrocuted’ and his younger brother having his teeth pulled out. One of the other two individuals identified in the McKinsey report was subsequently imprisoned, while the other disappeared. Abdulaziz is a close friend and political ally of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in 2018. After the McKinsey report identified Abdulaziz, his phone was hacked, compromising his communications with Khashoggi. The lawsuit argues McKinsey had a duty of care not to share information that could endanger dissidents. McKinsey defends itself by claiming the report was ‘a basic overview of publicly available social media information’ not prepared for any government entity, with ’no evidence that the document in question was misused.’ The case raises fundamental questions about Western consulting firms’ liability when their work is weaponized by authoritarian clients.