How not to fire someone

I was slightly taken aback when Ed Balls expressed his dismay at the size of the payoff awarded to the lady from Haringey council given that it was he who ordered her rather rushed removal in the first place. I have no idea as to the detail around her removal and have no wish to get into that discussion, I do however object at the size of the payoff and how it was done. I suppose what I would like to know is how many other people were dismissed/disciplined on the back of internal investigations. I appreciate that the buck stops with the person at the top but if someone is going to lose their job it should be for the right reasons.
I sometimes feel that the public sector live and operate in a parallel universe, one where the normal rules of business seem not to apply. In the course of my professional life I have had (on the odd occasion) to exit someone from a business and it’s not something that I relish doing and have always regarded it very much as a last resort, what I have always striven to do is to ensure that the person involved is treated properly. In this case it would appear that the lady in question was not treated properly, investigations into what happened were rushed and to be honest she was made a scapegoat. If she truly was to blame then she should have been suspended pending a full and thorough investigation. If there was sufficient evidence for a dismissal then there should have been a face to face meeting and attempt made at reaching a compromise agreement, this would have ensured that she was given adequate compensation for her past service and would have removed the possibility of a tribunal further down the line. Also it would have given her the opportunity to leave her position in a way which was not harmful to either party.