What were the details of paying $2000?
You're saying that if someone offers me a small amount of money I should accept it, but if someone offers me a large amount of money I should maybe reject it?
That sounds backwards to me.
in that case, rightfully you should not take the money regardless of the amount.
but, if it's a tiny amount of money (tiny enough to indicate that the company probably isn't going to bother coming after you in court) then you can maybe consider taking it anyway and accepting the miniscule risk
whereas receiving a vast sum of money would carry a much larger risk of legal action
So now I'm free to tell people that they fired me with zero days' notice and zero severance. That's just the way they roll.
I find it funny that their nondisparagement policy specifically causes disparagement that otherwise couldn't have occurred.
† They also gave me an explicit reassurance that I shouldn't worry about my health benefits, because those would remain good until the end of the month. I didn't find this particularly reassuring, since it was Halloween.
bribe?