Laid Off In Missouri By Kansas-based Company, But Severance Agreement Says I “voluntarily Resigned” — Should I Sign Or Pursue Legal Advice?

I’m looking for advice on a severance/unemployment situation that feels increasingly strange to me.

I live and physically worked in Missouri, but the company is based in Kansas and payroll/tax stuff appears tied there.

Recently, most of my team was suddenly let go with essentially no warning. We were all brought into a small office at the same time and informed our employment was ending. The whole thing felt extremely rushed and disorganized. From what I could tell, even department leadership (creative directors, art directors, etc.) didn’t seem to know what was happening until minutes beforehand, and nobody really had clear answers beyond vague statements about finances and restructuring.

What’s throwing me off is that the situation was verbally framed as a layoff/reduction, but the agreement they want me to sign is titled a “Voluntary Resignation Agreement and Release of All Claims.”

The document specifically says I “voluntarily resigned,” which doesn’t feel accurate at all. I didn’t submit notice or decide to leave — I was told my employment was ending as part of a larger cut.

In exchange, they’re offering a relatively small severance payment and temporary continuation of health coverage, but the agreement also includes:
- a broad release of claims
- confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses
- language preventing legal action
- Kansas governing law
- language waiving basically every conceivable employment-related claim
- a statement saying I still retain the right to apply for unemployment

The more I read it, the less this feels like generosity and more like the company trying to protect itself and clean up liability after a chaotic mass layoff.

My questions are:

1. Could signing something saying I “voluntarily resigned” hurt unemployment eligibility, even if the agreement says unemployment rights aren’t waived?
2. Since I physically worked in Missouri but the employer/payroll is tied to Kansas, which state would unemployment likely go through?
3. Is it reasonable to push back and ask them to change the wording from “voluntary resignation” to something more accurate like “layoff,” “reduction in force,” or “position eliminated”?
4. Is it common to ask an employer not to contest unemployment as part of a severance negotiation?
5. Given how abrupt and large-scale the layoffs were, and how broad this release is, does this sound like something worth pursuing legal advice over before signing?
6. Is this kind of “voluntary resignation” framing normal in situations like this, or is this a red flag?

I’m trying to stay level-headed and professional about it, but something about the situation feels off to me, especially because the written agreement doesn’t match how the separation was communicated in practice.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Location:

Residence in Missouri, office based here too

Company out of Kansas