Sure, it can happen. The anecdote sounds ludicrous to me: gatekeeping someone with that much experience over checking a box like that.

This is surprisingly common in many industries. It was one of the reasons I went back and got a degree as a working adult. It worked and I was able to land jobs that had that requirement which was a springboard into higher earning work. It was so strange the first time it happened. I got a call from a old coworker I hadn’t seen or heard from in about 12 years. He was a boss then looking to hire for a lucrative position. We talked for a bit to catch up, he said I had the skills he wanted then almost as an afterthought he said “Oh, uh, do you have a Bachelors degree?” and I said, for the first time in an employment situation “yes”. His response was “okay, sounds good. Show up on Monday, you’ve got the job”. That was it. Without being able to say “yes” there I would not have gotten that job. In the years since, received that same question and gave the same answer in a number of jobs after than each with increasing salary and benefits.

Also, no one asks when you got the degree. Everyone always assumes you got it after high school as is done traditionally.