Unfortunately, this kind of situation comes up more often than one might think, and can be difficult on managers and employees alike, especially if the fired employee has friends who continue to work for the employer.  I have also seen a situation involving an emotionally unstable manager who had great trouble maintaing appropriate boundaries at work.  She would make a friend of an employee at work then clearly favor them. As a result, aside from the obviously different way her "best friend" of the moment was treated, when they were not getting along or "broke up," all the drama played out in the workplace. This included fights behind doors in thin-walled offices, instigated by the manager.  While the other employees couldn't hear what was said, they could hear raised voices. This in itself was extremely disruptive, but in addition, after such a semi-public fight the manager would later "apologize" to the staff for her current BFF's behavior, as though that's was the problem.