I think the point is that if your career (and life) were to be unexpectedly destroyed months or years down the line as a result of this (even if you were acting

I think the point is that if your career (and life) were to be unexpectedly destroyed months or years down the line as a result of this (even if you were acting both in the spirit and within the letter of company regulations at the time), you would be in a strictly worse position than if it had never happened.