And yet Joe Scarborough and Mika Brezinski weren't fired, and their story didn't embarass or harm their company, quite the contrary.

Also, TFA mentions that this could be legally tricky for ABC:

> ABC News may have to thread a needle, proving via legal means that the pair behaved unprofessionally at work.

So any legal reason is just a retroactive attempt at justification.

> and if you fuck that up in any way in a public facing role I’m sure you can still be fired in your country, even if the reason you fucked it up (like having an affair) is apparently normally protected.

Sure, for all sorts of reasons. Except having an affair. That's nobody's business here (France) and a private matter between the two people and their families. And that's why I can't understand it, and so far none of the explanations have been convincing and are contradicted by TFA, since it's neither a legal reason, nor a contract reason. It's purely a cultural reason.