I have no specific knowledge of this case, but I agree with you this feels off. I have seen this dozen of times during the course of my own career.
The standard playbook anytime an employee whistleblows, makes an HR complaint, etc, is to paint them as disgruntled and look for a legal action they can make against them.
The standard playbook anytime an employee whistleblows, makes an HR complaint, etc, is to paint them as disgruntled and look for a legal action they can make against them.