Wow, never would have thought an event like this would trigger so many (and so highly emotional) reactions
I personally think people should not be so surprised by this..this kind of stuff happens every day.
A few years ago I was an assistant ATCO at ATC The Netherlands (without an R/T license) when the ATCO next to me went for a smoke and casually asked me if I could clear the Easyjet that was bound to make contact to climb to FL240. So when the pilot called ATC I simply cleared him to FL240 and that was it! I was nervous like hell but it was a great experience.
I really hope this guy does not lose his job over this..he should maybe be reprimanded or something like that, but to be fired of this would not benefit anyone.