If a recently unemployed person wishes to sue for wrongful termination in California, he must comply with state law. To begin with, most employer-employee relationships are "at will." That is, an employee works for an employer at his will: the latter can lay off or fire the former at any time and for any reason, unless it is expressly prohibited by state or federal law. For instance, the California code stipulates that a former employee can sue for discrimination based upon his race, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or marital status. Further, an employee can sue for breach of contract if he can show that there was an implied contract in his work situation. He could also sue for defamation, although this is difficult to prove, and in most cases would require the employee documenting how he was treated in the workplace.