What Legal Protections Are Afforded to At-Will Employees?

There are any number of statutes that protect employees from being fired for an illegal reason. Both under the federal and state laws in New York and New Jersey. For example, Title VII under the federal law, which was enacted in 1964, protects people from being terminated based on their race, their gender, their national origin or a bunch of other characteristics. There are also specific laws for other conditions that have evolved over time. There’s anti disability statutes, there’s anti pregnancy discrimination statutes. So both New York and New Jersey and the federal law have a myriad of protections for employees in the event that they’re terminated for what they believe is an illegal reason based on a protected characteristic.