Found this comment on the MCU subreddit, makes a lot of sense imo
Disney is smart enough to know that the story will break one way or another. So the only way that they can control the break is to control how people see the story. So they fire James Gunn, knowing the backlash it'll bring. In fact, they bank on it. Count on it. If they don't fire him and wait for the crowd to call for the witch hunt, they have to fire him permanently. For real. He doesn't have a chance because public view has eaten him alive.
HOWEVER, if they DO fire him, Disney takes the heat and waits for the fan backlash. Suddenly the view of James Gunn is no longer "the monster", but now of a man seeking repentance. A man sorry for his past actions, and how he's moved beyond them. James Gunn stays humble during all of this, doesn't put up a fight, and instead owns up to everything said about him. He's heartbroken, but not going to fight back.
Fans call for his reinstatement. Disney lets a few days go by, in a little while they say that they hear the calls for justice. That they hear the fans wanting James Gunn back. And in an unprecedented turn of events, Disney hires him back. Disney comes out of this with a little PR scuffle