The only time that I can recall someone getting in trouble for reporting posts was because that person was *very* condescending to the moderators in their reports. They were saying things like "I can't believe you let this person post at all." (Paraphrasing, as I can't remember the exact words.) and basically telling us that we sucked at our jobs. It was also very apparent that this person had a vendetta against certain posters. I, personally, don't mind the reports that just give a heads up. We can't keep an eye on all the threads all the times.
As for whether or not a post has an etiquette question... I am totally okay with posts that are just about a bad etiquette story. That's kind of what etiquette hell started out as, actually. Those threads do, however, tend to be short. People don't have much to add besides "Wow, that's crazy!"
