If there's a layoff, no justification is needed with regard to who ends up on the list. The company's downsizing, and no other justification is needed. They don

If there's a layoff, no justification is needed with regard to who ends up on the list. The company's downsizing, and no other justification is needed. They don't have to say why you were on the list. If they try to claim that it's "for cause", then they have to say what the cause is. If you're the only person fired that day, it's not really a layoff. Many companies will give you a decent severance and not get into specifics, though. In that case, you should take the deal and move on. This stuff's really complicated, with a lot of variation by state, company, and circumstance. However, the "can fire for any reason" claim is blatantly incorrect. Companies don't pay severance or run "performance improvement plans" because they're nice; they do it because at-will employment is very complicated and firms are risk-averse.