No, it couldn't be her own actions that had anything to do with this.
Could it?
“...but in Hester’s case, it’s her refusal to hand over her password that actually got her fired.”
Do you think that is okay?
“No, it couldn’t be her own actions that had anything to do with this.”
EXACTLY. Once she brought her company (school in this case) into it, they have EVERY RIGHT, in my opinion, to protect their reputation.
If she wanted to keep her ‘privacy’, then she should have also protected that of the school.