I’ve worked for my current employer since November 2019. It’s a retail job at a liquor store, and for the most part it’s been a great job.
Starting late summer 2021, I started having issues with my personal life, mainly due to depression and anxiety thanks to Covid and the fear of getting it and giving it to my mother who has COPD. On September 11, 2021, my assistant manager at the time came to work after unsuccessfully trying to find somewhere that would give his daughter a Covid test. I asked my manager why he was there, and he told me that he couldn’t do anything until she has a positive Covid test. This freaked me out. Both my manager and assistant manager are anti vax and big fans of Alex Jones, so obviously his opinions of Covid did not line up with mine.
The assistant manager never bothered getting his daughter tested, and therefore kept coming to work. She was sick for two weeks, and her high school got shut down while she was sick due to Covid cases. I was absolutely terrified to come to work, and hated every minute of being there. At the end of September, my manager pulled me aside and asked “what my issue was?” I told him that I was terrified of getting Covid from our assistant manager and was upset that he was allowed to continue coming to work. He immediately yelled at me, telling me I needed to get over it. He said that I have more important things to worry about and if I couldn’t get over it he would have me transferred to a different store, which was out of county and would likely give me less hours.
Over the next few months, my treatment by most of my coworkers became worse and worse. I was no longer allowed to run shifts in my store and was forced to give back my key, and was repeatedly told I needed to improve my attitude, even though I wasn’t the one with the attitude issue. I kept my head down and did my job to the best of my ability, but I absolutely did not enjoy being there.
On January 1, we had a small fire at out house caused by a short in our dryer. I spent all day in the hospital due to smoke inhalation, and we had to spend 6 weeks living in a hotel while our house was being “cleaned.” We ended up being scammed by the restoration company, and to this day we are still fighting with them about damaged electronics and ruined clothing.
During this time, I was just showing up to work because I had to. I don’t remember being there, and I’m sure my performance suffered. By the beginning of March, I was starting to feel more like myself, and I thought things were looking up.
On March 10, I was given a letter by my manager stating that I “made inappropriate comments about a customer to another employee” on the date of February 25. An investigation would be completed and if found guilty, appropriate punishment will be handed down. When I asked my manager what this was about, he rudely said everything I needed to know was in the letter. He told me I should get union representation and that I would need to write a letter in defense of my actions and send it do my regional manager.
I wrote a letter in my defense and contacted the union, but was told that there’s really nothing they can do until judgement is passed down. On March 24, I was found guilty and given a level two write up. This is a final warning, and also bars me from a full time promotion for one year. Note that one week prior I reached the top of the seniority list and therefore became next in line for a promotion. When my district manager asked what I had to say for myself, I told him that I had no idea what I said, and I thought it was unfair that I was found guilty without knowing what evidence I had against me. I then spent the next hour explaining to him all the issues I was having at work and home, to which he responded that I should file a grievance, as he didn’t feel I was deserving of such harsh punishment.
I filed the grievance before the end of March, and just yesterday, May 5, I heard back from the union. I was told that I had called a customer a stupid bitch under my breath because she waited till I had her order bagged before she told me she’d like a box. When she left, I told the coworker that I hope she didn’t hear me. This came as a shock to me. Not because it’s not something I would say, because it is. I just know to keep it to myself. What shocked me is that two coworkers corroborated this information, and while the union rep wasn’t able to tell me who, I knew that it was my assistant manager and another clerk, both of whom knew at the time they would be quitting shortly.
My assistant manager hadn’t liked me since the incident with his daughter having Covid, and the other clerk had never been too fond of me. When the union rep asked if this incident rang any bells, I told her it did not, and when I said the names of the two employees that reported me, she was at the loss for words. I told her that this incident absolutely did not happen, and that these coworkers were trying to give me one last “screw you” before they left.
She said that these were strong accusations to be making, and that when we have the meeting with an appeals board I shouldn’t bring this up. I told her I didn’t care. I didn’t want to be made an example of for something that didn’t happen, at least not at that moment, and for something that happens in every store that we operate. If I’m going to get in this much trouble for calling a customer a bitch, then so should every other employee. I’ve heard worse things come out of better people’s mouths, and they get off scot free. She said that she didn’t exactly know what to do in this situation, and she would have to call me back on how to proceed.
As of May 6, I’m still waiting to hear back from my union rep. My appeal meeting is May 10, and I am fully prepared to let them know exactly what happened. I don’t care if I’m digging myself a bigger hole. I’m not going to sit back and let my future at this job be ruined because of a lie. Hopefully I’ll be able to clear my name, but I’m also prepared to be looking for a new job. I’ll hopefully post an update on this after the meeting.