severance payment

次期米財務長官に指名されたジェイコブ・ルー大統領首席補佐官が、以前勤めていたニューヨーク大学を退職したときに受け取った「退職金」の額が問題になっています。奇妙で読めない署名に続き、お騒がせの人です。

Obama’s Treasury Nominee Got Unusual Exit Bonus on Leaving N.Y.U.

President Obama’s nominee to lead the Treasury Department, Jacob J. Lew, got a $685,000 severance payment when he left a top post at New York University in 2006 to take a job at Citigroup.

The payment, which a university official acknowledged on Monday, is considered unusual by outside experts in benefits and raises questions about why a tax-exempt university would give a large exit bonus to an executive who was departing voluntarily.

The payment was not disclosed in the university’s publicly available tax records, and it is receiving scrutiny from Senate Republicans as they consider Mr. Lew’s nomination, which is expected to come up for a vote in the Finance Committee on Tuesday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/nyregion/lew-treasury-nominee-got-exit-bonus-from-nyu.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130226&_r=0

severance pay(ment)はしばしば「退職金」と訳されますが、日本の勤務年数や年齢、役職などに基づくretirement paymentとは違って、雇用者側が任意に設定できる「手切れ金」（？）的な性格が強いものなので、「離職/退職手当」と訳す方がよいのかもしれません。
とはいうものの確かに、「任意」にもほどがある額です。（UG）