Possible engineer was filtering the places he would want to work at.

Any place that fires me for calling bullshit — I would not want to work at anyway. Sayonara!

Yep, when I'm doubting whether I should do something at my job, I think "I wouldn't want to work for a company where this got me in trouble". Fortunately, it never has.

Or maybe... Don't be a jerk

Some people interpret a "no" as "the guy saying no is a jerk". Don't be this kind.

But likely, it's hard to find an adequate management.