Challenge/penalty of being ethically correct!!

Interesting your question
Thanks for sharing

Does the company Mary works for have an explicit code of ethics?

Are people when they start working for the company aware of the principles of the code of ethics?
And you know you have to respect the code of ethics?

If the persons are not governed by the company's code of ethics, what are the consequences?

Is there an ethics committee that appreciates decisions, behaviors and attitudes about non-compliance with the code of ethics?

What kind of decisions has been made by the ethics committee (jurisprupence)?

Against the background of the answers to these questions, Mary can decide what to do.

I am convinced that there are only three possible outputs:

- Leave company, project and team

- Remain in the company and do nothing

- Remain in the company and submit this situation to the Ethics Committee

Mary was wise. It might be tempting for Mary to act unethically, perhaps believing the executives will reward her unethical behavior on their behalf with a promotion. However, leaders who do not prize ethical behavior cannot be trusted. They will happily reap the benefits of Mary’s actions (perhaps they will receive bigger bonuses), but if there are any legal repercussions for Mary’s actions the executives will decry Mary as an untrustworthy employee and loudly claim they had no knowledge of her actions.
I have worked with leadership like this, so I'm quite familiar with the thoughts of such individuals. The best course of action is to leave an organization like that as soon as possible.