Legal Question in Employment Law in California
Employment at will?
I was informed by my employer that they can fire myself or anyone else in the company with or without reason since they are in California and ''employment at will'' state. Is this really true? When a company fires someone I thought there had to be a reason.
If this were to happen to myself or someone else, is there anything we could by via a lawsuit? example: awhile back there was an issue ''outside'' the company that I was involved with that affected one of the principles. Can he fire me in the future based on that? or can he just use no ''base'' for the firing at all? I just want to get some information so I know where I stand, any help anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Employment at will?
Not sure where other response came from, however, in California, an employer can let you go for good reason, bad reason or no reason. Cannot do so in retaliation for whistleblowing or re discrimination, however, even if activity off work, the other rule comes back in, ie good bad or no reason.
Re: Employment at will?
Unfortunately, it's true that California is an at-will state. However, you can't be fired for illegal reasons such as discrimination or whistle-blowing, or if you have an agreement to work for a number of years. You intimate that you might have been fired for out-of-the-workplace activities. Such termination also would be illegal. Of course, it depends on what you're talking about.
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