Surely you realize your experience, while not earth shatteringly unique, is still not universally applicable? Things which you have no control over worked in your favor, for others this is not true.
You write: "I won back pay, but was without a job."
Most people do not win back pay. I certainly didn't even though I was fired in violation of the law. Being in the right doesn't guarantee one such a victory.
You also write: "Guess what happened next. I enrolled in a graduate school, did some consulting for local gov't ."
The value of a degree has changed making this option less likely to lead to success today than in the past. Most people after being fired do have the option of getting paid, whatever amount for doing govt. consultating work. You were because of your position of privilege relative to a great many people who are fired from their jobs. Surely you can see this?
You also write: "Now comes the funny part. They guys who backed out of the grievance and decided to stick with their bosses - they all lost their jobs when the place was restructured a few years later. They could not fire them, all right, but they made them redundant. One of them died in a DUI accident, another went back to Poland where he ain't making it either, still another one got a restraining order from his wife, enlisted and served in Iraq where he got wounded,"
Which is the funny part, the wounded soldier, the death from DUI, the failed relationship, or the person who returned home to face worse circumstances? You deny you are a misanthrope but the idea that the fates of any of these people are at all funny betrays you as such.
I am really glad things worked out for you, truly I am. I am however really sad you cannot see that it was a combination of luck, hard work, privilege, and many circumstance over which you had no control. I don't belittle your hard work, it was a significant part of your success but only a part. I personally know people who have lost everything because of circumstance they could not control. They worked 6 and even 7 days a week 70 to 85 hours a week. They were as bright and driven as anyone. They succeeded to a degree only to lose everything a little farther down the line. They hired lawyers and were in the right and still they lost everything. There is nothing funny about any of it.
John Thornton