Should she fire her for talking trash about her, even though she has proven herself to be an incredibly strong employee? 

If your best friend told you that they got fired from their job, what would you assume? Would you assume that their boss is evil and made an utterly misguided decision? Or would you assume that your bestie said or did something that got them fired rightfully? Your answer to that question depends a lot on your best friend’s personality. We all have someone in our lives who we think might get fired because they can’t keep their mouth shut, and if that person is loudly complaining about how awful their job is, you might not be the most inclined to believe them. 

Even if someone is even-keeled and generally professional, you can’t assume that they got fired for no reason at all. People do things at work that can get them fired all the time. It’s also true that many employers have absurdly low standards for behavior they consider «fireable.» An employer might fire an employee for using their personal computer to answer a company email on the weekend because they left their work computer at the office. Usually, something like that, if it’s against company policy, might result in an employee getting a firm talking-to on Monday morning, with the expectation that they never do it again. If you fire employees for the most minor mistakes, you’ll end up throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Soon enough, you won’t have any employees to fire. 

The employee in this story didn’t make a minor mistake. She made a mistake that should probably cost her her job.