The employees didn't get screwed, they were employees. If you think you deserve something but aren't actually in receipt of stock then you're getting nothing. If we go back to the very simple definition of what business is:

"A business, she says [Elaine Sterberg],is an organisation whose purpose is to maximise long-term owner value by selling goods and services."

Employees aren't owners, the shareholders are.

No one got screwed, it played out exactly how it should.