1. the purser refused to carry out a direct command and insulted the captain
by shoving the gd under the door
This thread is shaping up to be the perfect Rorschach test for exposing all the latter day Queegs amongst the Pprune commentariat. Disturbingly, many appear to be the self declared professional peers of the captain in question.
2. the captain was pissed off enough to divert HIS a/c
Merely pissing off the captain is no reason to divert a flight to offload a crew member. Except perhaps in the most extreme situations imaginable, involving a credible threat to continued safe operation of the flight. Obviously not the case here. Captains, even senior captains of an airline's flagship aircraft are not free to resolve their petty differences with other crew members in such a capricious manner with complete disregard for the inconvenience visited on passengers, ground staff and government agencies, without serious consequences ensuing. I suspect this captain became aware through subtle clues, that he had lost the confidence and respect of his crew and chose to make an example of the purser in an attempt to restore a percieved accompanying loss of authority. But he chose an inappropriate method of doing so that will likely cost him his job and career.