Wrongful Termination
The term "wrongful termination" can be misleading. In Arizona, employment terminations are "wrongful" only in specific situations. Because most employment is "at will" a termination is not "wrongful" simply because it is without cause or even for a "bad" or "wrong" reason (for example, the employer mistakenly believed that the employee did something that the employee didn't do). This is perhaps a poor way to treat an employee or manage a business, but it is not illegal. For the termination to be "wrongful" it must be illegal, that is, it must violate a law or some important public policy.
In many cases, it is the motivation behind the termination that determines whether it is illegal. Federal and Arizona law prohibit an employer from taking adverse action (disciplining, demoting, terminating) an employee for certain discriminatory reasons like race, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, gender, religion, or disability or in retaliation for exercising certain rights, such as reporting or refusing to engage in discriminatory or illegal conduct.
Under the right circumstances, an employer's decision to take adverse action against an employee for a "bad" or illogical reason (the reason given just doesn't make sense) is evidence that the employer had an illegal motivation, such as discrimination (race, sex, pregnancy, religion, disability, etc.) or retaliation for the employee engaging in protected activity. Examples of protected activity include such things as reporting, opposing, or refusing to engage in illegal or discriminatory conduct, requesting or using medical leave, requests related to a disability or disability accommodation, religious or religious accommodation, requesting or using paid sick time, worker compensation claims, complaining about not being paid wages or compensation owed, and many others. This is not an exhaustive list, and there are many more categories of protected conduct.
If you think you were disciplined, demoted, fired for an illegal reason, you may have a wrongful termination claim and you should contact an Arizona employment attorney to discuss your situation.