I'm 23 years old, fresh out of college with 2 college degrees and currently in a graduate program to obtain a teaching credential.
Just the background info.
I applied to become a substitute teacher, and got accepted. I've been working for a month now, and had no problem (or so I thought). I accepted an offer to sub for one teacher from last Wednesday to last Friday.
But all of a sudden, at literally 2:30am Wednesday morning I was told my subbing had been cancelled due to concerns from other employees.
I asked for details, and got told that other teachers saw me on my phone “all the time”. (1. How would this even be possible if they had their own classes to teach? 2. I was barely on my phone and only when students were doing their work.)
I also got informed that I had “skipped a meeting because I was on my laptop”. (1. Subs don't have meetings. At all. 2. It's possible the boss meant an assembly, then yes I was on my laptop, but I also was paying attention. I could easily recreate the entire presentation if they ask me to.)
Boss insisted that I violated the sub handbook regarding phones. I checked many times over and even asked my fellow subs, and I'm sure that
1. The handbook is outdated. It's from 2021. I never got this year's handbook. AND some of my fellow subs have never gotten any handbook.
2. The handbook makes ZERO mention about phones, by me or by the students.
Oh, and I never was warned about anything at all. Zero communication that I was not meeting their expectations or whatever.
I'm meeting with the boss this Thursday to discuss my “faults”. I'm thinking about asking for backpay for these 3 days ($200 a day so $600 total) if I prove them that I'm absolutely innocent here. I want to ask for backpay for this week too, but since I never accepted any sub offers for this week, I know this is impossible.
Or is that naive? Should I email HR instead? Another course of action? I'm in California. Working at a special education school.
Any help or advice will be appreciated!