Severance is typically not "unambiguously contractually owed." The fact that many here would want company executives imprisoned for not offering goodwill boggles my mind.
No, they should be imprisoned for misleading, by defrauding. The "goodwill" was promised, in legal documents, and not fulfilled, that same goodwill is a major leverage against the employee, if such a promise was made you will take life decisions differently than if there was no such promise, when that promise is broken and your life is affected (as in: you'd move somewhere else and try a different venture, now you can't because you need to look for a job right now) then it's a fraud and a billionaire should really suffer just due to the power imbalance in the equation.
The fact that you are defending this practice makes me almost want to ask you how do their boots taste like...
It may not be owed but it was promised, presumably in legally enforceable documents that would have been used if the former employees broke the terms of severance.
The fact that you are defending this practice makes me almost want to ask you how do their boots taste like...