> So what that means is that any reason is valid except for the protected reasons.

Correct.

>This was contrary to what the person I responded to was saying, which is why I phrased it that way.

Incorrect. This is in agreement with the person you responded to. It’s contrary to your initial comment.

The issue here is that you made an incorrect statement, were then corrected, then proceeded to say that your initial statement was correct while at the same time agreeing with the correction.