Q: I asked for permission ahead of time to leave early from work.

A: Probably, but it depends on whether your supervisor had previously given you the ok to leave early that day. Without further information from you, it would be difficult to advise whether your rights were violated in any way.

Generally, all employment is "at will" which means that your employment lasts for only as long as your employer wants to keep you as an employee. There are exceptions, for example, if you are a permanent governmental employee (work for city, county, state or other government entity.) Or if you have an agreement with your employer that your employer will keep you employed indefinitely except for good cause. There are other exceptions as well.

If you are an "at will" employee, you can be fired at any time for any reason or no reason at all. But you cannot be fired for an illegal reason, such as because of your race, national origin, religious belief, medical condition or disability (as if you were fired because you got pregnant, cancer or some other illness or disability), or because you complained about being harassed at work or if you complained that someone else was fired or demoted because of their race etc., or witnessed illegal discrimination at work and were fired because you testified or spoke up about it to supervisors or other higher level bosses.

These are just some of the kinds of examples of situations which you should consult a lawyer about.