"Employment-at-will is a right."
"???????? I'm not sure I understand what you mean.
Employment, of any kind, is not a right. No one HAS to hire you for ANY type of job"
Employment-at-will means that employers can hire and fire as they will, for any reason or no reason at all, and that employees are free to accept jobs or leave jobs for any reason at all. It does not mean that an employer has to hire you.
Under the Common Law, we've always accepted that employers have employment-at-will rights, unless a contract says otherwise.
But like any other right, employment-at-will can be abused.
And when it is abused, that provokes a reaction.
Like this case we're talking about here.
You're correct. I'm not sure I would call it a right but you are correct in that it has been the assumption for the rememberable past.