The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") is the Federal body that enforces many of the laws that protect individuals in the workplace. When an individual has their job terminated, the EEOC prescribes methods to determine if the employer violated any employment laws or protections. An employee may have their job terminated for a broad range of reasons, and provided that the termination did not violate the rights of the individual, employers are free to use their own discretion. If a job is terminated based on the discriminatory practices of an employer, the employee may have been wrongfully terminated. The legality of job termination focuses on the reason the employer terminated the job. Under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 ("ADEA"), if an employer discharges an employee based solely on the employees age, the termination is illegal. Similarly, job termination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin violates the rights of the individual and is illegal. If an employer terminates a job based on one of the prohibited classifications, the termination is illegal and a claim may be filed with the EEOC.