What goes around, comes around. Stealing code is on Microsoft records, as a simple "Microsoft admits stealing code" search shows. One can only wonder how much code the company stole that did not come to public knowledge.
Also many of the .wav files in Windows 98SE were edited with a pirated version of Sony's Soundforge, the metadata in the media files contained the Soundforge cracker's name.
That sort of shit is relevant only to lawyers. A salaried sound designer could have lied to Microsoft just as easily. The nature of the offense isn't actually being changed in any practical sense between the two scenarios.