Your Firing Can Be Unfair AND Legal

Last week, I shared a post on LinkedIn from someone asking whether their boss could legally fire them for riding a motorcycle to work.

Supposedly, their boss didn’t like that they rode a motorcycle because they thought it was dangerous and could make the employee “tired” before work, thus reducing their productivity and performance. The person posting understandably thought that sounded like wrongful termination.

The comments on my post were pretty divided, but there was a common theme: there’s a lot of disagreement about what people think “wrongful termination” actually means.

Yeah, firing someone for riding a motorcycle to work sounds ridiculous. I would fight tooth and nail if this were my employee. Unless there’s some wildly important context missing from that post, it sounds outrageous.

But something being ridiculous, unfair, or even a sign of terrible management doesn’t necessarily make it illegal.

That’s where at-will employment comes into question, and it’s something I think a lot of employees have heard of without ever really having it explained to them.

So what actually is at-will employment?

At-will employment basically means that either side can end the employment relationship. 

You can quit without having to prove you have a good enough reason to leave, and your employer generally doesn’t need to prove they have a good enough reason to fire you.

There are obviously limits to that, but the basic idea is that neither side is required to continue the employment relationship just because it exists.

All but one US states operate under some form of at-will employment. Montana is the major exception because, after an employee completes their probationary period, employers generally need “good cause” to terminate them under the state’s Wrongful Discharge from Employment Act.

For everyone else, this creates a pretty big distinction that I think gets lost whenever someone posts about being fired online:

Unfair termination and wrongful termination aren’t necessarily the same thing.

If your boss fires you because they don’t like your haircut, that might be a terrible reason. If they fire you because your personality annoys them, that might be a terrible reason too. If they decide they don’t want someone who rides a motorcycle working for them, I’m personally going to have several questions about what motorcycles ever did to this person.

None of those things automatically mean the termination was illegal.

At-will doesn’t mean your employer can do whatever they want

You’ll hear people say, “You’re in an at-will state. They can fire you for any reason.”

That’s not true either.

There are reasons an employer legally cannot fire someone, and there are several exceptions to at-will employment that can depend on where you live.

The most familiar example is discrimination. Federal law protects employees from employment discrimination based on characteristics including race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age for workers 40 and older, disability, and genetic information. States and local governments can have additional protected classes beyond those covered by federal law.

Retaliation is another big one. An employer can’t legally retaliate against you for engaging in certain protected activities, like reporting discrimination or participating in an investigation into discrimination.

There are also some less obvious exceptions that I found explained really well by Paycor.

One is the public policy exception, which is recognized in many states in some form. Basically, an employer may not be able to fire you for doing something protected by public policy, like serving on a jury, reporting certain violations of the law, or refusing to do something illegal.

There’s also the implied contract exception in some states. You might not have a formal employment contract, but sometimes an employee handbook, company policy, or even an employer’s behavior can create an enforceable promise about how or why someone can be terminated.

Some states also recognize a covenant of good faith exception. One example Paycor gives is an employer terminating someone immediately before they’re supposed to receive a large commission specifically to avoid paying it.

Then there are employees whose jobs may have other protections entirely. Union employees may have collective bargaining agreements requiring “just cause” for termination. Some employees have individual employment contracts, and public-sector employees can have additional protections that don’t apply to the average private-sector employee.

So while “they can fire you for any reason” is a convenient way to explain at-will employment in one sentence, it leaves out a LOT of context.

A more accurate way to look at it is that an employer can generally fire you for a reason you think is unfair or stupid. They cannot fire you for a reason that violates the law or another protection that applies to your employment.

Unfortunately, there is quite a bit of room between those two things.

You don’t have to be in a union to have certain protections either

This was another one I wanted to include because I don’t think it’s common knowledge.

Under federal labor law, many private-sector employees have the right to act together to address issues at work, even if they aren’t part of a union.

That can include things like discussing wages with coworkers, talking about working conditions, raising group concerns with management, circulating a petition about hours, or acting together over certain safety concerns.

This is called protected concerted activity, and employers generally can’t fire or discipline covered employees because they participated in protected activity.

There are exceptions and not every workplace or employee is covered, because employment law apparently couldn’t allow anything to be completely straightforward, but the important part is that being in an at-will state doesn’t automatically erase these rights.

So if you and your coworkers have been discussing your pay and suddenly someone gets fired for “not being a team player,” there may be more to look at than whether your state follows at-will employment.

I’ve seen the difference between unfair and illegal firsthand

Working in staffing was probably where I saw this distinction play out the most.

I’ve had assignments end for reasons where I completely understood why the employee was upset. Sometimes I agreed with them that the reasoning was ridiculous. 

That’s a hard thing to explain to someone who just lost their income because, from their perspective, they’re absolutely right when they say what happened wasn’t fair. Sometimes it genuinely wasn’t.

There just isn’t a law against every form of unfairness in the workplace.

That’s part of the tradeoff that comes with at-will employment. Employees have a lot of freedom to decide that a job isn’t working for them and leave, and employers have a lot of freedom to decide that an employment relationship isn’t working for them either.

That doesn’t mean every decision made under that freedom is a good one.

Protect yourself by keeping records

If something starts happening at work that doesn’t seem right, start keeping track of it.

That doesn’t mean you need to document every mildly annoying interaction you have with your manager. If they didn’t say good morning to you on September 14th, we probably don’t need to open a case file.

But if you’re noticing an actual pattern, keep a timeline. Write down dates of important conversations, who was involved, what was said, and what happened afterward. Keep copies of performance reviews, disciplinary records, policies, and relevant communications that you’re legitimately allowed to retain.

Pay attention when explanations change, too.

If you’ve consistently received positive performance reviews and suddenly you’re being told you’ve had performance problems for months, that’s worth documenting. If you report a workplace concern and your treatment changes immediately afterward, document the timeline.

The goal isn’t to assume everything is evidence of something illegal. It’s to have accurate information if you ever do need to report something, file a complaint, talk to an attorney, or even just figure out what actually happened.

And please don’t respond to “document everything” by emailing yourself confidential company files you’re not supposed to have. Protecting yourself shouldn’t involve creating an entirely separate reason for your employer to fire you.

Know when something might actually cross the line

I don’t want anyone reading this to walk away thinking that “at-will employment” means you should just accept whatever happens at work.

Knowing how at-will employment works should actually make it easier to recognize when something doesn’t add up.

If you report discrimination and you’re suddenly fired shortly afterward, look into your rights.

If several employees raise concerns about their working conditions and the people involved suddenly start getting disciplined, look into your rights.

If you believe you’re being treated differently because of a protected characteristic, don’t dismiss it because someone told you, “We’re an at-will state.”

And if the explanation for your termination keeps changing, write those explanations down.

None of those things automatically prove that something illegal happened, but they’re absolutely reasons to learn more about the protections that apply to your specific situation.

Based only on the information we have, firing someone because their boss doesn’t approve of them riding a motorcycle to work sounds like an incredibly stupid management decision.

But it may still be a legal one.

The distinction between “this shouldn’t have happened” and “they weren’t legally allowed to do this” is a frustrating one, especially when you’re the person who just lost your job.

Knowing that distinction also helps you recognize when something actually does cross the line, and what information you should be keeping if it does.

Just because knowing your employer has the right to make some crappy decisions doesn’t mean you stop knowing your own rights too.

This article is intended for general educational purposes and is not legal advice. Employment laws and protections vary by state and individual circumstances.