Just for the record, laid off does not mean what most people use the phrase to mean. Unless there is a reasonable chance of recall, you have not been laid off, whatever the reason. Layoff means, "probably temporary". Whether you were let go because the company didn't have enough money to keep you, or because you were stealing laptops, unless there is a reasonable belief that you might be recalled to work, you were fired.
Now that we have that out of the way, NO employer lays someone off for no reason. It might be a good reason, a bad reason, or even an illegal reason. But no employer wakes up in the morning and says, I've got nothing to do today, I think I'll fire someone. You may not know what the reason is, but I guarantee there is one. It is not cost effective for an employer to fire someone just because he can - it costs a great deal of money to replace and train a new employee.
However, for unemployment purposes, occasionally you hear of "cause" and "no cause" reasons. In that case, "no cause" would mean because a department was dissolved; the company closed; the employee was RIF'd or laid off (as defined above); or for some other business-related reason that is unrelated to the behavior of the employee in question. The possibility also exists, for unemployment reasons only, that the employee might have done something or failed to do something for which the employer has cause to fire them, but does not disqualify them for unemployment benefits. This is also sometimes considered a "no cause" termination (though the employer will most likely disagree). Examples of this are state specific.
I posted this before I saw your last post, Roxy. I don't know where you got the idea that HR is generally the one to decide whether or not to fire someone, but that is NOT the case. It is the employee's manager who makes that decision.
