Re:What did you expect? (Score 1)

"There may be policies in place that dictate his actions"

A policy isn't an excuse. Too often in america today, company policy is used as carte blanche to get away with the most abyssmal behavior. I can name you more examples that I've experienced than you can count, things that are just ridiculous. So can everybody else.

IMO, it's all about people's sophistication in reasoning skills being so very poor. Somebody came up with a policy, usually considering the interest of only one side in a multi-party action, and then it became gospel and not to be questioned.

"Most people spend that time [...] stealing IP belonging to the employer."

If this is your impression of what most people do, remind me to never employ you in any capacity. Honestly, if you think that this is a norm then I'd have to post a guard on you 24/7 to make sure you don't engage in other damaging or dishonest behavior.

I don't think most people engage in such spitefulness when treated well. People, in my experience, when treated without trust tend to act in a manner that justifies their treatment. When treated honorably, people tend to rise to the level of their treatment over time.