How much was the check for?
A week suspended seems like a really harsh punishment if it was truly an error on her part.
I know with my bank, sometimes if I pay for something with my visa checkcard, it double or even triple charges me and it can be up to a week before my bank settles the mess, and if I did not have overdraft protection (which I do have so it's not really an issue for me) any outstanding checks would bounce.
For instance, a few weeks ago, I used my visa checkcard to pay off my trip to WDW (approx $700 before I cancelled that trip and got my new ressie with AP rates). Anyway, they double charged my vacation fund, which is not my primary checking out, just my "fun" acct. That was an approx $1400 charge on an account that I only had enough in to cover what was needed for the trip.
They fixed it but it took a full week. If I'd had any outstanding checks they would have bounced while the bank was fixing their error. Just an example of how sometimes errors really are not a person's fault.
Personally, I would not hit up my co-workers for money. I'd never even bring it up. But if she was desperate for the $$ and it really was not her fault, I can see why people might feel for her and give her the $$.