Some context-
Our team is relatively small, 10-13 people and we work on the weekend so it's pretty disconnected from the main management of the company since we have very little time that overlaps with their Monday – Friday schedule which means that the shift manager and the team lead hold all the power essentially. The way the shift is structured. These are really the only two guys with power, everyone else is just an associate. Anything that reaches outside of our shift has filtered through them and it appears their goal is to do the least work they can get away with without getting in trouble from higher ups which is surprisingly easy if no one really checks on you and just takes your word.
Back story-
Last week the coworker this is about asked to speak to the shift manager about an issue she had with how the team lead spoke to her the previous week. The team lead joined the conversation part way through and the coworker continued their complaint, then both of the leaders got very defensive and basically shut down the complaint. The complaint wasn't anything crazy, simply the team lead being very unnecessarily rude
Today-
Today was my coworkers review/raise and in which they were expecting a specific amount for a raise based on performance and “culture fit”. Both leaders sat in for the review which typically doesn't happen. Either way the coworker came to us after and told us they got half of their raise because they do not fit the culture and they are perceived as negative by their coworkers. They specifically said they went around and asked others about their opinions and that's the feedback. The leaders also specifically mentioned to leave rants about management at home. This coworker being perceived as negative came as a big shock to alot of us. There's 4 people that work with this coworker most often, me being on of them, and if anything this person is the opposite of negative and fits in with the team more than either of the leaders do. I know this sounds like a biased view and maybe so but it is uncharacteristic for anyone to refer to this coworker as negative and since speaking to other coworkers they are equally suprised. Of course people can lie and all that but for the sake of my question please assume it is truth that this coworker is not negative and that 90% of the team would agree (10% being the two people this coworker confronted last week). It seems very clear to a few of us that the leaders have made this up to demotivate the coworker and pressure them to quit. Myself and others have noticed notable differences in the way they act towards this person compared to other “favorites” but it's hard to ever call it out because these are the two guys in power and it's the associates word against theirs. To get to my question. Is potentially lying about something to cut someone's raise legal? Is there anything that can be done in this situation or should the employee simply leave? (they are planning on leaving eventually when they can secure a new job but with full time school that could take some time)
We also don't really know how we'd get in contact with anyone from the hr department. To be honest I just assume we have one but I've never heard anything about it.