Well in this case the noisiness was the main problem, but when other passengers like an earlier post here indicated, I do have a problem when you don't get your first meal choice or movie choice.
Not to mention the fact that when one pays $10,000 should they not be entitled to some extra space and privacy when it is possible when revenue and mileage customers haven't booked the cabin full?
I think you will find that most non US airlines with really excellent F cabins don't put staff there regardless of their reason of travel.
In this case, these were a group of JFK international based flight attendants who were all on reserve who were headed to a hotel at LHR to work a flight the next morning. Are they not paid for this?
If so, that is a big problem with AA but in any case if you knew your presence in the cabin took away from the comfort of your paying passengers (and thus your meal ticket) would you not be willing to sit in economy as long as you were being paid?
When DL was 3 class, no employee was ever allowed into international F. I think the same applies at airlines like CX and SQ (except for Captain level and family). BA has some rigid standards too.