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Jesus, name and shame. That kind of behavior should follow those founders like a sign hanging from their neck saying "don't work for me."

That would be a fairly straightforward lawsuit as a company cannot intentionally defraud its own shareholders.

If the employees had options they weren’t shareholders (yet)

That's a straw man argument. If you had an interest of any kind in a company, and someone screwed you, you can sue. In today's environment, companies will settle even if they have a good case, let alone if they are likely to lose. Plenty of lawyers will take such a case and get paid in a contingent fee arrangement.

Hey, my old cofounder just did this to me!