Legal Question in Employment Law in New York

Re: At will employment

The NY Labor Law does not, so far as I know, contain a defianition of the term "at will." However, there are three leading cases, decided by NY's highest court, the Court of Appeals, which delineate the conceot. They are Sabetay, Weiner v. McGraw Hill and Murphy v. American Home Products. Basically, this trilogy established that generally absent a written contract or illicit motive (e.g. racial discrimination) an employer can terminate an employee at will for any reason, or for no reason at all. "At will" generally connotes that the hiring is for no specific term, hence terminable at will by either party at any time. A contract for a term, such as six months, is not "at will." Contracts for employment of a year or more, must be in writing.