There are areas of AA that are unionized, flight attendants, cockpit crew, etc., and areas that are not.. reservations, etc. The unionized employees can probably get away with more than the non-unionized. However, AA did at one point run a reservations employee off this board. Anyone remember RDURES1?

As far as D3 and upgrades on a paid ticket not only can you not do that but if someone takes offense and reports it the employee can not only lose flight privileges but also takes the chance of losing their job. If you have D3 privileges tread carefully as you don't know the damage you can cause.