Legal Question in Employment Law in California

You haven't stated any basis upon which your family member can sue. Employers are not required to give prior warnings unless it is part of a contract. Either party can terminate the employment relationship at their will. Just as your family member chose to exercise his right to quit, without notice, the employer has the right to lay him off without notice.

If he believes he was going to be terminated for unlawful reasons, he should discuss the matter with an attorney directly.

No.

In general, unless an employee is civil service, in a union, or has a written employment contract, they are an 'at will' employee that can be disciplined or fired any time for any reason, with or without �cause�, explanation or notice, unless it is based upon illegal discrimination, harassment or retaliation as defined under the ADA [disability], Civil Rights [age, race, sex, ethnic, religion, pregnancy, etc], FMLA [medical leave], Whistle-blower, or similar statutes. Any employee's goal should be to keep their supervisors happy and make them look good to the company, and make the company money. That�s how the company pays employee wages. If you don't, then don't be surprised to be replaced. Now if the firing was illegal under those definitions, feel free to contact me for the legal help you�ll need.

In addition, by quitting he disqualified himself from unemployment benefits.