Severance, you’re right. Unemployment is likely still on the table depending on the state. In Texas, the person can file for unemployment. The company can challenge saying they were a no show but the employee can argue that it isn’t true. It is just easier to allow unemployment to just cover it.

EDIT: I once had a guy work for two week as a 1099 and he still filed for unemployment. That got denied because he was never an actual employee, but had we not noticed the claim in the mail, he would have gotten paid.