I just stormed out of work in the middle of the day.
Started out a normal day. A couple of super easy jobs moving a bit of furniture, then back to the warehouse. Everyone is in good spirits, the first job went well, all is good. I'm in the passenger seat and my coworker is driving. He bumps into a low hanging branch with the top corner of the truck, cracks the plastic corner guard. We stop immediately and he takes a picture, emails both owners and the person in charge of coordinating with Ryder to take care of the trucks, apologizing profusely and taking responsibility for the accident. He's riled up, doesn't wanna get in trouble, but I reassure him he did the right thing by letting them know. Because not even a year ago, something similar happened to one of the other trucks, and nobody knew anything about it, nobody came forward to fess up, and one of the owners lost his mind for weeks interrogating people to figure out who was lying. We're all pretty sure that whoever did it that time didn't even realize it had happened. So obviously the right answer here is to own up immediately and apologize. After his emails go out, he calls one of the owners in particular to apologize personally and explain what happened. She doesn't answer, so he leaves a message to that effect, asking her to call him right back so he can explain what happened.
When we get back to our warehouse, one of the women who works in the office tells us that owner called them, and told them to tell us that once we offloaded our truck, we were both to clock out, take the truck to get repaired off the clock, wait for it to be fixed, and then go home for the day. The driver tries calling her. I try calling her. She refuses to answer for us. She'll talk to the office, she'll talk to other coworkers, but not us. The people she will get on the phone with tell us she thinks we were trying to back into a driveway, and that I was supposed to get out and guide the truck, and that's why we hit something and why I'm also being punished. They inform her that that is not the case at all, tell her what really happened, and say that both of us are happy to explain if she'll answer our calls. She refuses to budge. I ask one of the coworkers whose phone she will answer to tell her that I'll be leaving, and I won't be back tomorrow unless I get a phone call. He does that on behalf of me and the driver. I'm home now. It's been a few hours. I still haven't received a call.
Not really sure what to do at this point. I've had this job for seven years and I love what I do. I don't want to lose it, but I cannot stand being accused of something I didn't do, I'm insulted at the assumption of incompetence after so many years with the company and a good reputation among my coworkers, and I'm furious that she can't even be bothered to speak with people before she hands down judgement, and still refuses to even speak with either of us upon learning she had misunderstood. And honestly I'm stunned that I would even be asked to work without compensation, for an accident no less. An accident that I was just in the passenger seat for. An accident that ought to be taken care of by our insurance. And I'm so tired. Tired of always working for people like this. People who can't be wrong and can't stand any kind of discussion.