reading through this thread i was only looking for one thing and don't seem to see it. I thought i'd read that your friend was in the company's employee asst. program am i correct in that? If so, right there is a huge reason she should and will most assuradly collect umemployment. Not to say that it will even come close to her wage before. But, at least its something for now. I also think that unemployment might help her out with her company knowing they did wrong to fire her when she was, "seeking help for her problem". Make sure when she speaks to an attorney that she mentions the fact that she was in the program it could change things.
hope that helps some
bucket