Laid Off Yesterday. Hr Is Withholding My Severance Unless I Sign A Retroactive 2-year Non-compete That Would Ban Me From Working In My Field. Is This Legal? (ny)

Location: New York. Yesterday morning our company did a sudden round of layoffs hitting about 15% of staff over a five minute group Zoom call. I have been working here as a logistics operations coordinator for a little over three years. During the termination call, HR told us that in exchange for our standard release of claims, we would receive 10 weeks of severance pay based on our tenure. My original employment contract from 2021 had a standard NDA and non-solicitation clause, but absolutely zero non-compete language in it.

This morning I finally received the DocuSign separation packet, and buried deep in section 8 is an aggressive, broad non-compete. It claims to apply retroactively and prohibits me from working for any company in the logistics or supply chain sector across the entire United States for two full years. On top of that, the cover email from HR stated that signing this exact document is strictly required to release the severance funds, and that if anyone refuses to sign by Friday 5 PM, they will record the separation as "resignation without good cause" which they specifically noted would disqualify me from NY state unemployment benefits. My field is niche and signing this would literally prevent me from getting hired anywhere I have experience.

I politely emailed HR asking to redline or strike the non-compete clause since it was never part of my initial agreement, and the HR director replied within minutes saying it is "non-negotiable company policy" and that I have until Friday to accept or forfeit the severance completely. I am in a tough spot because I desperately need that severance to cover my bills while job hunting, but signing away two years of my career seems insane. Can an employer actually hold severance hostage over a brand new non-compete in NY, and can they really block my unemployment if I refuse to sign?