I WAS ON THE JOB 12 YEARS AND WAS TERMINATED WITH NO NOTICE DUE TO ECONOMY GOING BAD AND GIVEN NO CHOICE TO A PAYCUT OR A DIFFRENT POSTION AND NO SEVERANCE PAY WOULD THIS BE SOMETHINF I WOULD HAVE A CASE FOR WRONGFUL TERMINATION..
In California, you can be terminated at any time, for no reason at all. This "at will" employment has only a few exceptions (you have a contract, you were fired in violation of public policy laws such as discrimination, or you were part of a mass layoff of 50 or more employees).
I'm sorry about your situation. Let's all cross our fingers that our economy turns around soon.
Most people are employed at will. An at will employee can generally be terminated without cause assuming the employer had no illegal motivation for the termination. While the employee may perceive this as unfair, it is not actionable.
An emplioyee may have a claim for wrongful termination if any of the following are true:
An employee has a written employment contract that is violated by the termination.
An employee can show that the parties agreed by words or conduct that the employee would only be discharged for good cause.
The termination was somehow related to an employee's age, disability, family or marital status, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation.
The termination was an act of retaliation against an employee who has filed a complaint about sexual harassment, a wage and hour claim or any other similar employment matter.
The termination was an act of retaliation against an employee who discovers that their employer is breaking the law and reports them to the authorities – "blows the whistle."
