Woman 'ruins' Easter dinner by calling out BIL's business scam, 'the whole table went QUIET.' AITA?

"AITA for calling out my brother-in-law at Easter after he bragged about his company overcharging clueless new business owners?"

So, this happened at Easter dinner and it’s still bugging me. I (52F) am retired now, but I spent over 20 years as a business advisor helping small business owners get started—everything from writing their first business plan to finding affordable legal help. I’ve also started a couple of businesses myself, so I’ve seen firsthand how tough and overwhelming those early days can be.

Anyway, my brother-in-law "Jake" (35M) works at a registered agent company—you know, those companies that help you set up your LLC, file annual reports, etc. Over dinner, he starts talking about his job, which is fine at first. But then he shifts into bragging mode.

He starts going on about how they overcharge “dumb” clients for basic services, upsell them on things they don’t need, and how everyone in the office laughs at the “ridiculous” business ideas people bring in. He literally said, “We call it the idiot tax—if you’re dumb enough to fall for it, we’re smart enough to take your money.”

The whole table went quiet. I was honestly shocked. I told him flat-out that what he was describing wasn’t just shady, it was predatory. That these are often first-time entrepreneurs putting everything on the line—savings, family support, dreams—and that he and his company were profiting off their inexperience and laughing about it.

I said, “You’re proud of taking advantage of people who are just trying to build something?” Well, Jake got defensive and started making excuses—“it’s not illegal,” “everyone in the industry does it,” etc. My sister (his wife) told me I was ruining the mood and “starting drama.” My sister later told me I should’ve just kept my mouth shut and changed the subject.

But I don’t know—I couldn’t just sit there and let him act like that kind of behavior is okay. I’ve spent most of my life trying to help people like the ones he’s mocking. So…AITA for calling him out and “ruining” Easter dinner?

Here's what people had to say about this one:

brittdre16 said:

NTA. Normalize calling out bad behavior.

tdasnowman said:

You'd be the ahole if you don't report him and his company.

Sea_Meeting_5310 said:

Nta. All you did was point out the arrogance, corruption and hypocrisy. Pretty sure that’s okay every day, especially on Easter. Maybe he shouldn’t have bragged about his predatory behavior and then act surprised when everyone didn’t find it so amusing. Because it’s not. He may as well be a scammer targeting the elderly, also not funny.

Biotoze said:

NTA. Some people should feel shame.

PotatoMonster20 said:

NTA. "I'm cruel and like taking advantage of people. Aren't you impressed by me?" "...No."

Pandoratastic said:

NTA. What he was describing is deliberately unethical. Saying it's legal and that "everyone does it" doesn't make it ethical. Some jobs do require people to have flexible ethics, such as a defense attorney who is willing to defend a guilty client.

But the way he is compromising his ethics isn't inherent in his job description. It's just him finding ways to take unfair advantage of his clients for his own selfish benefit. This is someone you should be careful around because he has directly told you that you should not trust him...

Because he will do whatever he thinks he can get away with if it is to his own selfish benefit. He'll probably cheat on your sister at some point if he thinks she won't find out or that she'll forgive him.