The problem is that pissed off ex-employees are able to file lawsuits claiming that they were fired for any of a number of reasons that you can&#x27;t fire them for.  (Race, gender, religion, ...)  Defending these lawsuits, even when they are without merit, is an expensive PITA.  And the process can turn up all sorts of stuff in public that is a PR disaster.<p>This happens sufficiently often that HR has responded with policies to carefully document exactly why people are being fired.  Furthermore they often try to get fired employees to sign contracts saying that they won&#x27;t sue.  These policies make it considerably more difficult to fire people.