...doesn't just "make it happen" just because leadership can get away with it (although in this case it sounds shaky considering they allowed another employee to do it). A good HR department should consult with leadership to make the best long-term decision for the company, weighing both the company's and employee's interests, and considering the precedent, the optics, the ethics, and the impact on culture.

Too frequently I see HR just become a yes man to these kinds of garbage leadership decisions, and just try to justify the actions legally. They become complicit to the brutal culture that is the result of stuff like this.