Honestly, good for them
I wish I could find more ways to subvert RTO expectations. With the teams I've been on it's been pretty cut and dry. The more people working to poke holes in the RTO regime, the better, imo.
Worst case scenario, these people end up being targets to meet Charlie's headcount reduction goals. Better them than you. Best case scenario, the RTO mandate evolves into a swiss cheese of exceptions and team specific rules, making it all the easier for a future leader to justify doing away with.
There isn't a downside, and your post just comes across as jealousy. We should be rooting for as many people as possible to challenge the RTO mandate, explicitly or covertly.