Yeah you're right, that's what he should have done. Why would a company voluntarily put someone on a sick leave? There are even legal implications for this. Think about it for a moment. I'm sure a company like Google would have given him a (maybe paid, maybe unpaid) sick leave for reasonable amount of time if he had asked. Instead he stuck around, didn't do work, and told the manager he wants to stay because he's "satisfied with the salary". Imagine you're his coworker, working your ass off while this guy proudly doesn't do shit and still makes the same money as you.