Waves hand hi, I’m one of the downvoters! I downvoted you for being an ass, no hive mind necessary.

Even if there were other circumstances pertaining to their firing (and I’ve seen this sort of ‘cartoonish villainy’ before, albeit it was a model employee who wanted time off to go to her own graduation, so I’d say it’s entirely possible their story is true) to quote The Dude, ‘You’re not wrong, Walter. You’re just an asshole’.