I'm an assistant manager at a privately owned restaurant whom I've been with for over a year. I've loved my job all the way up until recently and feel as if I'm being treated wrong and unfairly but I need some outside opinions.
In late January of this year, my coworker committed suicide. This coworker was the general managers brother. They lived together and he was found by the general manager in his room an hour before their shift was to start. This was the beginning of a lot of hurt for our staff as we were all very close to one another. This caused a drastic shift in the energy of our workspace and the general manager would leave without warning a little over 2 months ago. I was not working the week that he left and was not aware of his departure.
The other assistant manager, who we will call Susan, was attempting to contact me during this time that I was away from work. She knew that I had time off and made repeated attempts to get in contact with me which I ignored. I knew why she was trying to contact me but I wasn't aware of the circumstances and was thinking how selfish she had to be to try and get me to work on my week off. When I returned to work, I was approached by the regional manager and was asked to sit down and talk to him. He explained what was going on as if I already knew that the general manager was gone. This was the first that I was hearing of this and I told him that. Everyone at work assumed that since me and the now former general manager were close that I was already aware of his departure, which was not the case. I hadn't spoken to him since I last saw him at work and no one told me about his unexpected departure. He explained that Susan was extremely upset with me for ignoring her since I “knew that they needed help,” which was not true at all. I figured when I came back from my week off that it would be business as usual.
Susan comes in after this talk with the RM and is immediately ignoring me. She refuses to let me explain that I was unaware of everything going on and proceeds to ignore me the entire day unless it's to cut me off when I try to explain myself. I wasn't upset with her, I knew that she had a stressful week without any help, and I felt guilty about ignoring her. So when she continued to ignore me for these months to follow, I didn't feel any sort of way about it. I understood. I wished she would get over it and just talk with me but everyone handles things differently.
Fastforward to a month ago. Susan is now our general manager and we are rebuilding our staff. I have kept the same position with gradual changes in my hours throughout the week. After coming home from work one day, I was injured in an accident that left both of my hands completely immobile for roughly 2 weeks. While still in the hospital receiving treatment, I let Susan know that I would be unable to work for a few weeks. She seemed compassionate in her response, letting me know that my shifts were covered, telling me to get lots of rest, and asking that I let her know when I'm able to return so that I can be scheduled.
Two weeks ago, and two weeks after this accident, I informed Susan that I was ready to return. She ignored me for an entire week. When I finally got a response, she told me “I'm going out of town for a week so I need to know that you can work if you're on the schedule.” I told her that I'm absolutely fine and will have no problem working. She put me on the schedule for the shifts that she normally works and I performed the same as I always do. She returned a few days ago and submitted the schedule like she always does; only this time, I'm not on it. I sent her a text asking why I'm not on the schedule and, no surprise, I'm being ignored.
I feel as if the only reason she responded to me was so that I could do her job while she's out of town and now that she's back she feels like she doesn't need me… but I'm still an employee. I'm still working for the company. I've already returned from my medical leave only to cover for Susan and be kept off of the schedule again. I'm not sure what I can do in this situation or if there's anything illegal going on. I don't know if I'm wrong for feeling that I'm being mistreated. I just need a second opinion. I'd love to hear what you guys have to say, be as mean to me as you want. Tell me if I'm wrong, or if I'm right, and what I can do.
Thank you.