Will a PoE switch damage a non-PoE device?

My boss is adamant about the fact that our Cisco and Zyxel PoE switches that we have will "fry" our company's proprietary devices since they don't require PoE. However, according to the 802.3af/at standard doesn't a device have to request PoE in order for the power to be sent over the appropriate pins?

I'm assuming companies like Cisco and Zyxel implement the 802.3af/at standard in all of their devices.