> Independent of all of this, they made a payout that they were contractually obligated to pay out. Why did they make this payout and this contract? In other w

> Independent of all of this, they made a payout that they were contractually obligated to pay out. Why did they make this payout and this contract? In other words—what benefit to Alphabet was it in exchange for? Not damaging the reputation of the company is a common clause in severance agreements. I bet that not being retroactively found to have violated company policy is also common. Would it be in Google's interest to pay out the severance if the employee were found to have stolen corporate secrets?