State Senators: Baker Should Sever Ties With Consulting Firm That Once Advised Purdue

Two Democratic state senators are calling on Gov. Charlie Baker to end the relationship his administration has with the consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

The Republican governor recently gave the firm the task of trying to gauge the longer term impact that the COVID-19 pandemic would have on the future of work in Massachusetts.

State Sens. Diana DiZoglio of Methuen and Anne Gobi of Spencer sent a letter to Baker on Monday.

“It is truly inexplicable that your Administration would reward this firm with additional state contracts after what they have done to residents of the Commonwealth,” the two wrote.

The two pointed to a $573 million settlement reached by Democratic Attorney General Maura Healey and other attorneys general with McKinsey & Company for advising Purdue Pharma on how to boost OxyContin sales.

“After all the pain this firm has inflicted upon Massachusetts families, it is confounding that your Administration would task McKinsey & Co. with preparing crucial reports on COVID-19 metrics,” the two wrote, urging Baker to sever ties with McKinsey & Co. immediately.

The Baker administration didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The future of work study produced by McKinsey & Co. found the rise of hybrid and remote work during the past year and a half is just one of the ways the future of business in Massachusetts could change in the post-pandemic years — shifting the state’s economic “center of gravity” away from the Boston core.