According to the article, the "punishment" on table was a disciplinatory hearing. The PI decided to resign rather than undergo that.
The situation is not materially worse than someone getting fired for a reason, and I don't see many stories on HN about that.
One sort of trial is an investigative report from a journalistic institution with a reputation at stake. When someone pointed this out to me, I was mildly appalled, but I’ve come to agree.
The world’s systems are largely out of our control. It’s true that most systems in place now will seem crazy in less than a century. But it’s also true that you have to deal with them if you want to live a good life.
The problem is that it’s often costly to publish such counterstories. It’s not very socially acceptable to be seen as defending your own action. But you have to, if you want public opinion to be overturned.