[makeitdouble]

> what would stop them from trashing me as a new employer

Wouldn't it be a good incentive as an employer to not do things that would get you trashed by your employees ?

Sure some people could be revengeful for all the wrong reasons, but I don't think they're many, nor that they usually have a huge platform to throw trash, and these thing would also be denied on the spot by other people in the know.