Comment by watwut

> the thought process of the company was probably not so much that he messed up the database that day, but that they'd never be able to trust him with actual production work down the line.

I think that they simply acted emotionally and out of fear, anger and stress. The vague legal threat and otherwise ignoring this dude bother suggest it. The way events unfolded, it does not sound like much rational thinking was involved.