They pay people to leave. Happens all the time
in terminations that aren't "cut and dried" with pilots who have been here a while. The LGA lady was also a known bad actor and she was also paid to go. Same with the world famous PHX captain with a top gun sounding name.

The pilot in question will get a SBOA and a settlement will be reached.

By the looks of that article, I would say he is lining up his ducks for a nice settlement in lieu of a wrongful termination lawsuit, but that's my cynical side.