I've only heard of Piedmont throwing a 709 ride at someone once since I've been here, but the general attitude is correct. Several of the more entrenched members of the training department seem to use fear tactics to keep the group in line. They even seem to be able to override the decisions of several other people because "they don't agree" with something and can apparently take unilateral action accordingly.
Best bet, keep your head down and your mouth shut, and do what you can to move on.