@BroDrillard I haven't found any reporting on it, so I don't know if it's just a boomer's fantasy story.

But the way it could happen would be mainly "destroy" for the former being an exaggeration. Maybe he clamped something wrong and blew out a tool post or something that was a specialized part causing the lathe to sit idle until the part comes in. Enough damage that its bad, but enough that they don't can him immediately.