It seems so strange they would openly give this feedback to a candidate. Even if it weren't illegal, the only action available to the candidate is to lie about

It seems so strange they would openly give this feedback to a candidate. Even if it weren't illegal, the only action available to the candidate is to lie about the nature of their termination in the future. It also doesn't seem like a good idea to avoid hiring laid off people. Hiring is a lemon market regardless of layoffs, and plenty of great people get laid off. It just doesn't make sense to reject a great candidate at the very end of the process because you realize they had been laid off. Either they weren't a great candidate for other reasons, the Blind post is an unreliable report of events, or the hiring committee really is stupid.