Which is crazy. But just because you can fire someone for no reason doesn't mean you can fire them for illegal reasons, which appears to be the case here.
Employers are absolutely allowed to fire employees for any or no reason as long as the reason isn't specifically illegal (e.g. on the basis of race or gender).
That only counts for logical arguments. There is an assumption that if a reason is given for firing someone, anyone should be fired under the same circumstances on basis of fair treatment.
There is a distinction but it's not the one you were originally making. Which seems important in a discussion about kinds of harms. Firing someone is not assault.
Just about everywhere in the US, people can be fired without any reason at all. It is up to someone who is fired to show that they were fired for a reason that is illegal.
But IANAL firing some one for telling their co-workers about their right to unionize is an illegal reason to fire someone. I'm not completely convinced that's what happened here but still
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