That example is way too tame. Criticizing upper management's decisions might get you a reprimand and might make it hard for you to get a promotion but it's unlikely to be career-ending.

Career-ending would be:

• Overt racism or sexism (e.g. I don't like working with X because they're a <racial slur>)
• Taking credit for someone else's work
• Embezzling money
• Committing fraud
• Making up outright lies to explain a negative outcome (e.g. we failed to sell more widgets because our whole sales team quit halfway through the quarter)
• Offering or accepting a bribe