panier de crabes

Etymology
lit. 'basket of crabs'.

Noun

 * 1) rat race; any organization where people metaphorically claw at one another to come out on top

Usage notes
This idiom is not generally used with "ouvrir". The phrase "ouvrir un panier de crabes" is a conflation of this idiom with the different idiom "ouvrir une boîte de Pandore" ("to open Pandora's box, a can of worms").