I don't know if there was a staff lounge discussion and this is a mute point. From what I can see, this seems like a case of miscommunication between N4n0 and FireZ not corruption. N4n0 shouldn't have overridden another administrator's (especially a more-senior administrator) ban without talking to him.
A number of posts here mention Firez's punctuality(or lack thereof). FireZ and I were promoted to administrators on the same day with FireZ being more of a workhorse while I handled the community issues like this. He's certainly improved over time, and his benefit to the site vastly outweighs his occasional poor word choice.
Throughout the years, these issues continue to appear because of the level of superiority staff have over regular users. As a result of this superiority complex, there's increased scrutiny and judgment. There are ways to mitigate the issue and put staff on a more level playing field. For instance, have all staff use the same color on the username list regardless of rank. Don't allow staff without the proper donation rank to have usernames/titles/ etc.The way modscores are conducted could be adjusted as well. Not only would you look more unified but more regular.
The obvious response (and one I've used) is that these privileges are rewards for being staff. However, do we really want staff who seek out privileges to elevate themselves?