[IANAL]

Indeed, the California WARN Act[0] explicitly says "layoffs"[1] instead of "employment loss", which would cover termination.

However, it's also true that courts don't like it when you try to get cute. It should be interesting.

[0] https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.x...

[1] https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySectio....