Dear Onalaska, Wisconsin:

Wisconsin is an "at will" employment state, which means that any employee can be terminated at any time for any reason that is not against the law or discriminatory. A reason that is against the law would be, for example, termination because an employee refused to illegally dispose of hazardous waste. A reason that is discriminatory would include race, religion, national origin, disability, and retaliation.

In the case of an employer who has an employment manual, some employment manuals might create an implied contract only to fire for cause, and only after certain steps are taken. If your employer's manual has a first warning; second warning; then termination policy, that could have happened in your case. Keep in mind, though, that every employer's employment manual is different and an attorney would need to review what yours said.

Wisconsin (unlike many other states) has an Open Personnel Records law, so you should be able to find out why you were terminated. You have a right to review those.

Here is a portion of that law: "Every employer shall, upon the request of an employee, which the employer may require the employee to make in writing, permit the employee to inspect any personnel documents which are used or which have been used in determining that employee's qualifications for employment, promotion, transfer, additional compensation, termination or other disciplinary action, and medical records, except as provided in subs. (5) and (6)."

Furthermore, you have right to dispute what is in the file. "If the employee disagrees with any information contained in the personnel records, a removal or correction of that information may be mutually agreed upon by the employer and the employee. If an agreement cannot be reached, the employee may submit a written statement explaining the employee's position. The employer shall attach the employee's statement to the disputed portion of the personnel record. The employee's statement shall be included whenever that disputed portion of the personnel record is released to a 3rd party as long as the disputed record is a part of the file."

Here is a full description of the law, if you are interested: http://www.dwd.state.wi.us/dwd/publications/erd/pdf/erd_7749_p.pdf.

The State of Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development may be able to assist you: http://dwd.wisconsin.gov/er.

Good luck.