This has been my experience in every job that I have had (4 in total). I've suffered severe career burnout basically wholly because my working experience leads me to believe there is no such thing as a company that treats employees with even a minimal level of acceptable decency, at least in the U.S. (I have no experience working elsewhere).

In my early career I was foolish enough to believe this was just a symptom of earning your stripes or paying your dues. In the first professional job in which I gave two weeks' notice, I worked my tail off during those two weeks to clean up several lagging code repos, write a bunch of badly needed tests, polish off a deliverable for an important system, and write copious documentation detailing step-by-step how to handle any of the little ad hoc things that I had to do on a weekly or monthly basis. On my final day, I even worked an hour late (until 6 pm) furiously giving a tutorial on some of that last-minute work. I was literally sweating in my shirt when I collected my last items and walked to the elevator for the final time.

Months later I came to find out that a former colleague at that firm had given a negative review about me (a very petty action related to being upset about my choice to leave) to another employer when I was interviewing. Now I feel it is completely unsafe to ask them for any kind of reference or recommendation.

So much for really pouring myself into the role and trying, even literally to the final minute, to be an exceptional employee for them...

If an employer is that way to everyone, then I generally will make an effort to brush it aside. However, embarrass me in front of the team and all bets are off. It does not mean I will not give notice. It just means I'm likely making a mental note of it because I generally just want to give people what they want even if they didn't know they wanted it.

Sorry to hear about your experiences.

One reflection I have: I wouldn't worry so much about "negative" performance reviews from former colleagues. After all, you did give notice on that job, so that in itself is a a kind of a negative review of their "performance."

Also, you're more than within your rights to ask the HR contact to "confirm dates of service, and my reason for leaving", only. Most anyone would be more than happy to comply with such a request, even if they didn't exactly see eye-to-eye with you while stuck in the same boat with you, job-wise (since hardly anyone particularly likes saying negative things about other people unless they really have to).

Or if you do feel compelled to let them continue to give their negative review -- you can either preface it ("We had a difference of viewpoints about certain things, which is why I left"), -or- provide another colleague from the same shop who viewed you more positively (or whom you can at least trust to not outright badmouth you).

I once had a "negative" review backfire against me once, many years ago. Someone said some stuff about me in a reference call that they never said to me in person while I was there -- so I brought in another co-worker who quit shortly after I did, as a counter-reference. I ended up getting the job, and it was one of my more pleasant working experiences actually.

There's always a good chance you could work with some of your old peers at a new company. They aren't necessarily going to forget the way you acted when you left.

Honestly two weeks notice isn't about the company at all, it's about the people you work alongside (including your boss). The company will do just fine regardless, but your co-workers have to pick up the extra slack.

Yes, but if the company is treating you badly, you don't owe it to your coworkers to continue enduring that for their sake. If they really value their professional relationship with you and if they respect you, they will certainly understand that you can't be expected to subject yourself to two additional weeks of poor treatment just for their sake -- and neither should you expect that from them if they determine that the company is treating them badly and they need to quit.

It is not you who has made the coworkers pick up extra slack via your choice to quit without notice. It is the company that has given them that extra burden by placing you in a situation where the only healthy option was to quit without notice. Thoughtful colleagues will understand that the company is to blame for this kind of thing, not the worker who did not give notice.

In cases when someone was treated well and simply did not give notice for some extrinsic, selfish reason (like being offered a sign-on bonus to start immediately at a new firm or something), it will be pretty obvious to everyone that actually the company had treated them well.

Right point.

The higher skill a job requires, the less impact quitting without notice should have on colleagues, with respect to "pick up the extra slack." As far as I can tell from reading around, it's going to be a long time after even a two week notice before a replacement is in place (if at all).

You should probably send emails to people about what's where, etc. Or try not to have loose ends. And I can understand colleagues feeling snubbed without a goodbye, much less a happy hour.

I'm not advocating without notice, but when it happens, around "here," I just don't see much of an impact.

You can look into suing them for slander. It might be worth it to ask an attorney to take the case on a contingency basis.

I do not have the personal resources to sustain doing that -- whereas the other person absolutely does. Perhaps if I film myself sleeping with his wife, then someone with financial resources might help out.