Title and more information below. I feel like this isn't fair and my employer didn't even try to get my side of the story or understand fully what happened. I also don't think it is fair grounds to fire someone based on what actually happened. Please let me know your thoughts. Summary below.
Context: this happened between me and another co worker who I've worked closely with for 2 years and we had plenty of crude/ joking conversations before. This also happened at a holiday party where there was an open bar and lots of intoxication.
I approached employee X (who I hadn't talked to all night yet) and apparently said “Hey fuck you, we aren’t friends” to which he replied “I don't have time for your shit, get the fuck out of my face”. Employee X and I were in fact friends with each other and if that is what I had said then I meant it in a joking manner. I was however very shocked at the tone and aggression of his response. I collected my thoughts for a couple of minutes and then approached Employee X and said “It’s not okay to talk to me like that”. Employee X was talking to a few really high up people at the company when I approached him the second time and he himself is higher rank than me as well. I then was escorted out by the two higher up individuals and called myself an uber home.
I felt like I handled the situation well and was simply standing up for myself and didn’t escalate the situation any further than it needed to go. I then met with Employee X early the next week and we talk it out and try to understand why we had the disagreement. In my head, I was making a joke by calling him a fucker, etc. to which we often do to each other. He didn’t quite see it the same way and reacted aggressively. We both came to terms and shook hands and made amends. After that I followed up with the two executives that were witnesses. I told both of them that Employee X and I had talked and were cool with each other and had no hard feelings about it. Both of them said they appreciated that we took the extra steps to make amends. It felt like this would blow over and nothing would come out of it.
Fast forward to today, I am approached by our Sr VP who asks me to join him in an office. Instead of handing me a raise which is what I was expecting (raises were handed out the prior week which I was on vacation for) he said “I have some unfortunate news, we are going to have to split ways”. I am so shocked that I think he is joking at first. I replied “I knew this was coming” but then I started reading the papers he handed me and the talking continued I realized he was serious. Today was my last day and I packed my things up and left.
I was never even brought in to give my side of the story or to diffuse the situation. Apparently there were several “witnesses” that were brought in for question but neither Kevin or I were brought in to give statements. It does not seem fair that the two people that were actually involved in what happened weren’t brought in to talk about it and I just got blamed for starting everything.
If anyone has any advice on how to proceed I would appreciate it. Is this grounds for wrongful termination??
TLDR: Got into a minor argument with a co worker at a holiday party. We handled it internally, then 3 weeks later I was let go based on “witnesses” and I was not even brought in to tell my side of the story. This feels unfair and I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions for proceeding.