Legal Question in Employment Law in New York

Re: firing

Under the "employment at will" doctrine, an employer can fire any employee for any reason, or without any reason --- UNLESS either:

(1) the employer can be proven to be fring the employee by discriminating against that employee's race, ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation, age, disability, which would render that terminatin/firing an illega vioaltion of that employees rights under federal and state and city civil rights laws;

or,

(2) there is an employment contract, or at least an employee handbook, which specifies that an employee can ony be fired for cause, and which specifies what those causes are, which would mean

that a company which fires an employee without such cause is liable for violating that employment contract.