[typically]

OP's point is that the response to such an violation should be explicit, and not arbitrary. This policy seems arbitrary to me; either you are permitted to announce your putative hand holding are you aren't. If the policy is that a first-time offense may be excused with a warning, this should also be made explicit. The point is we have all agreed to play a game according to a particular set of rules and when these rules are broken by an opponent there should be a compensation for this.

I personally agree that Stars handled this well given their existing policy; however as a matter of policy there shouldn't be such ambiguity in the first place.