This doctrine states that, absent a contract of employment for a definite period of time or a contrary statutory provision, an employer may discharge an employee for any reason, or for no particular reason, and the employee cannot sue the employer for wrongful discharge. Conversely, the employee is entitled to quit at anytime without liability to the employer. Accordingly, from an employer's point of view, to maintain maximum flexibility, it is desirable not to enter into written employment agreements with employees. On the other hand, from an employee's point of view, it is always better to enter into a written employment agreement with the employer if the employer will agree to do so. However, employers and employees should not assume that there is never any potential liability when an at-will employee is terminated.
Liability can arise, for instance, under federal and state anti-discrimination statutes.
More information about procedures under anti-discrimination statutes appears in another section below. Most union contracts require a terminated or disciplined employee to pursue a grievance procedure outlined in the contract before being entitled to pursue a lawsuit against the employer. Public sector employment Governmental employees usually have some form of protection from capricious employment termination and other adverse employment actions. The nature and extent of the protection varies with the type of employment and the particular laws and regulations affecting that employment. Usually some sort of administrative appeal is available to public employees who feel they have been unjustly terminated or otherwise punished in employment.