Cityfan, thanks for the information and your patience. If others took the same moderate tone in replying, this thread wouldn't have gone into some of the sub-themes that have developed.
Since there appear to have been witnesses who (reading between the lines) would verfify the Captains's version of events, it should almost be a slam dunk for him. I'm surprised that the purser was allowed to continue working, given your description of the situation and the fact that in early debriefings the FOs should have supported the Captain's story. Hopefully justice will prevail and we'll be reassured that this whole event wasn't based on someone's power trip or temper tantrum.