Quote Quoting Brian_blackcat
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Even if I didn't have the intention to help him escape?
This is an incomplete thought. Are you asking whether you could be charged with a crime even though you had no intention to help him, or asking if you can be fired?

As to the former, it depends on exactly what you did. If all you did was know of the crime but failed to come forward to report it, that’s not a crime. But if you assisted him in some way, including active steps to conceal it (e.g. lying about your friend’s crime when asked about it, etc), then it might be a crime. The details matter a great deal here.

As to the latter, then assuming your employer is a private company (i.e. not a government agency) then the employer may fire you for pretty much any reason or no reason at all, except for a few reasons prohibited by law. The prohibited reasons include firing you because:
  • of your race, color, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, or genetic test information under federal law (some states/localities add a few more categories like sexual orientation);
  • you make certain kinds of reports about the employer to the government or in limited circumstances to specified persons in the employing company itself (known as whistle-blower protection laws);
  • you participate in union organizing activities;
  • you use a right or benefit the law guarantees you (e.g. using leave under FMLA);
  • you filed a bankruptcy petition;
  • your pay was garnished by a single creditor; and
  • you took time off work to attend jury duty (in most states).


The exact list of prohibited reasons will vary by state. But certainly an employer in every state may fire an employee for failing to report thefts from the employer that the employee knew about.