Whatever your employer did, it's not worth you committing a crime and/or having to defend a lawsuit. It's just not. You will suffer way worse than the momentary schadenfreude you get from watching the company suffer.
That doesn't mean you can't look out for yourself. You should absolutely. For example, I would advocate for not quitting your job until you start a new one. Things like giving notice are a convention, not a legal requirement (in the US at least; it can vary by country). Companies can rescind job offers. It's better to start. Then they have to lay you off or fire you.
If your conditions are really terrible and you have the luxury of just walking then do that. Walk. Immediately. Let them deal with the repercussions.
> Whatever your employer did, it's not worth you committing a crime and/or having to defend a lawsuit. It's just not. You will suffer way worse than the momentary schadenfreude you get from watching the company suffer.
While I agree in principle that it's generally not worth getting caught for sabotaging a company you've left, I wouldn't categorically state that it's never worth it. I suspect you're unaware of some of the deeply shady stuff some corporations have done.
For example, IBM leased Nazi Germany census machines which were instrumental in the identification of Jewish residents during the holocaust, continuing to provide upkeep and service for years. It's been remarked that the concentration camps could never have reached the numbers they did without the aid of IBM's machines. To make things worse: the machines required the use of specialized punch cards which at the time were only provided by IBM, meaning IBM could have cut things off at any time.
That's probably one of the most egregious examples, but it's not the only one. Off the top of my head, Coca-cola was alleged to have worked with paramilitary forces to murder union workers in Columbia. Chiquita banana was also revealed to have funded paramilitary groups within Colombia.
Playing devil's advocate: there are almost certainly some cases where a person could be forgiven (or even lionized) for sabotaging their employer on the way out.
It never ceases to amaze me how even the most inocuous online discourse, such as saying criminal misconduct isn't worth it just because you hate your job, nearly always somehow proves Godwin's Law.
We're talking about someone who most likely had a shitty experience at a shitty company for a shitty boss. Most of us has been there. That's all we're talking about.
"What if they're making Zyklon B?" They're not.
"What if they're funding or otherwise enabling death squads in Myanmar?" They're not.
And if they were, why were you (in this case) happy to work for them for 12 years up until you were demoted, knowing this?
That doesn't mean you can't look out for yourself. You should absolutely. For example, I would advocate for not quitting your job until you start a new one. Things like giving notice are a convention, not a legal requirement (in the US at least; it can vary by country). Companies can rescind job offers. It's better to start. Then they have to lay you off or fire you.
If your conditions are really terrible and you have the luxury of just walking then do that. Walk. Immediately. Let them deal with the repercussions.