Should this guy have been sacked?

[Reaves]

Hmm tough one.

On one hand he did mention that if all appropriate paper work was submitted he MAY get the extension although he was mainly saying that it was useless as he was the worse performer in the class anyway and in the lecturers eyes not at a level that warrented a pass. Therefore he shouldn't be sacked for not giving the extension as that wasn't the case.

Prove that your father died and your were distraught and unable to complete assignments-in spite of your abysmal record to date as an underperforming and underquallifed student- and perhaps you might qualify for an extension to get a C-.

From the letter it seems he WAS sacked for being an idiot.

these sort of excuses-culturally driven and preying on some sort of Western liberal guilt-are simply lame.

Even if he thought this was the case, to state it in writing is not needed and if false would be very insulting. I'd sack him for not using tact. He certainly could have handled it better.