That freedom exists. Anyone who didn't want to work with this person was free to quit at any time.

We use a bit of asymmetrical freedom here in the US; we don't FORCE anyone to stay, but we don't allow you to bar people from being present without a good reason. And in general, "at will" employment is the norm and this is a special case; it's only when a company shows that it is incapable of being reasonable when stuff like this happens.

They forfeited the control over their employment by being irresponsible, by being incredibly unprofessional, by holding employees to personal standards outside of professional bounds. They stopped acting like an employer, so they lost the benefits that come with that status.