Ive been debating on reaching out on Reddit or not but I can't continue to do what I've been doing because it's not making anything better. I currently work in fast food ( not by choice obviously, but I literally can't seem to get hired anywhere else due to the ole “lack of experience” bs ) I had never had any issues other than the usual high schoolish drama that is common within most work industries…that is until a co-worker who had been out due to surgery, returned to work. The first night I ever worked with this particular co-worker, our drawers were short $20. This was the first time a drawer had ever been short during my shift out of the 6 months I had worked there. That was the first red flag. Now for the second one, this co-worker also just so happens to be the assistant manager's sister, who also just happened to be working as shift leader that first night the drawer was short. Her reaction to noticing that the drawer was short was off to me as she seemed to be saying to me through her body language that I needed to give her and her sister some space and so I proceeded to go to the back and wash dishes while they talked over whatever they seemingly needed to talk out. It was abundantly clear that she knew what had happened to the money and was trying to get her sister to return it, but didn't seem to want me to know for obvious reasons.
I should have said something to a higher up then… but chose not to. Instead, I decided to share what had occurred the previous night , while clearly stating that the manager never outright accused her sister of stealing the money or needing to return it, but her odd reaction and body language toward her sister seemed to say it. I then ended the conversation by telling them that the only reason I even told them was bcs they would be working with her the upcoming night, and seeing as it would be one of the two managers first nights as a shift leader I felt it important to bring up the situation just in case it happened again.
Fast forward a few weeks later, turns out one of them had told the now assistant manager/coworkers sister about what I had shared with them, but of course they inaccurately stated that I had told them that the manager accused her sister out loud and told her to put the money back. Something I made abundantly clear to them had never happened verbally! Nevertheless money continued to go missing on her shift, but even worse they had begun putting me and said coworker on the same shifts. Something I assume had been done by the assistant manager in order to eventually try and push the blame onto me.
The theft has been ongoing now for over 5 to 6 months and yet they continue to let her run drawers and she continues to create situations that force us to have to “share drawers”. By create situations I mean we will get busy and she will disappear into the bathroom multiple times throughout the day and will proceed to be in there for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour without a word being said to her. Which reminds me I should probably also mention the fact that she's been in active addiction throughout her employment. Not saying that to put her down or that automatically makes her a thief , as I too am an addict.But, the difference is, I don't steal to feed my addiction, and also the assistant manager recently shared with another manager that she had went through said coworker's phone and had found a text that was sent while at work to one of her dealers, and the text literally read ” hold on need few mins, got 2 get the $ out of register first”
But despite any evidence that has been uncovered nothing is done and instead the manager still active so they don't know if it's me or her who is taking the money. And yes we do have cameras all throughout the store including behind the register pointed towards the register, the thing is despite me telling them countless times to look at the cameras and then responding that they are going to they never do and continue to draw this out as long as they can preferring to play the he said she said game and continue pointing fingers, rather than just uncovering the truth and ending this bs once and for all.
So my question is what can I do about this because I'm afraid that they are going to find a way to push all of the blame on to me and wrongfully terminate me. Knowing that I won't be able to afford to fight it since they know that I'm currently going through a hard time financially and just overall ( my house caught fire 3 weeks ago, and we have been moving place to place every few nights) which reminds me 2 weeks ago when I called them to let them know I wouldn't be coming into work because of the fire that had just occurred they asked if they could set up a fundraiser in order to collect money for us to make repairs on the house and to replace what all had been lost. Not thinking too hard about it, and having too much going on to recall the kind of people my co-workers actually were, II said yes. They started the fundraiser and I was later told by one of the managers that after they began raising money, it seemed as though co-workers were suddenly starting to be tipped and upwards of $20 or more, this was most definitely money that was given as a donation, but was then instead being pocketed by set employees including the one that was stealing out of the register.
…But yeah, that's the kind of people that I work with. I would get another job in a second if I could find one. I've applied everywhere, and yet never once heard anything back. The only reason I took this job was because it was the only one I ever heard back from, probably because I can't keep anyone longer than a few weeks because I can't handle the stress that comes with dealing with people that act like this towards one another. But yeah, any advice would be greatly appreciated. TYIA
—I also like to add that the assistant manager loves to write people up…well loves to write anyone but her sister up, when something was first said to her about this she decided to compromise and write her sister up, two separate times. but interestingly enough, two of the other managers had looked through the book that the write-ups are kept in, and all of that co-workers write-ups were “mysteriously” missing!
Last week when I came into work I was wrote up after it turns out that supposedly I had been heard via the camera talking crap about the assistant manager in the general manager which I had done before, but i had not ever said the things that they were trying to accuse me of saying. My managers and co-workers know that I may say things that I shouldn't say, but when I do and am confronted I always own up to the shit that I had said. but this time was different, as I was being told I had said things that I knew for a fact I hadn't, which I tried to explain, that I hadn't been saying the things that she claimed I had said. but the assistant manager being the person that she is didn't care nor did she believe me and instead she rebuffed that they had watched the cameras and had heard me say it something that had I thought at the time I would have called out as it seemed a little ridiculous to me that they could watch the cameras for somebody talking crap but could not watch the cameras in order to figure out something is important as theft. It was obvious that she was doing it in order to build a motive to eventually fire me.