"nuclear" implies indiscrimiately devastating (lots of collateral damage), not just out of proportion, so losing a job, while painful in the moment, isn't a "nuclear option" for this sort of sexual malice that instills real doubt and insecurity in victims and divides employees and customers otherwise. a lawsuit and an arrest might be closer to that extreme. or at the extreme, a lynching (in no way advocating that of course).

hyperbole has the exact extremist effect you're railing against, which is indeed needless.

with that said, a demotion, an unpaid furlough, or pay cut may be part of a more reasonable consequence, giving the offenders a chance to reflect and grow (and eventually return to their prior status), rather than throwing them into a potentially negative cycle.