They have long referred to SID output while he was SID as being from the "daily Pravda" and dissed him every week. The only reason he has been 'rehabilitated' now is because they hate Swarbrick. Their revisionism ala "we just didn't like the message" is Trumpish. They openly mocked him nearly every week during the football season.
Having been in the room planning similar type RIFs and employee terminations, nobody knows the real story no matter how much frequently ignorant hand-wringing is going on. Nobody knows that he was told, when he was told it or the final severance package he received. It was been reported (by that other board) that his role was shrinking for some time. Right or wrong and not that I am defending it, this stuff happens all the time and why ND should treat this one person differently than it has probably treated others who were let go is a mystery to me. But we all know why this has become a "cause celebre" for certain folks (who have frequently derided cronyism at ND and supported firing those determined to be cronies) and it has nothing to do with that person that was dumped.