No. Common sense says that when the car is in neutral the transmission is disengaged from the engine. The wheels do not connect to the engine.
In any case, the relevant question here is what is the year and model the Saturn with the destroyed transmission. If it was an S series, then the owner did nothing wrong, and the question then becomes why is he entitled to a new transmission out of warranty? Not sure if California has an implied warranty law or not.
Best thing to do is to read