Recently found out my coworker, who does less work than I do but is at the same position, has significantly higher pay (~35%). He is very good friends with the boss. I opened up to my other, more senior colleague and they took it upon themselves to say something about it (they were also offended that someone much younger than them had pay very close to their's). It came back to me and our boss called for a meeting. I immediately knew my job was on the line.
I was overwhelmed, anxious and frustrated going into the meeting. The boss opened the discussion by saying we need to have better communication within the team and that we should be open with each other. Many of these remarks were pointed at me and the boss implied I was attempting to instigate behind the coworker's back. I insisted on talking about work only and wanted specifics. I said I was offended by how I had very low pay compared to the other coworker despite working a lot more and having more responsibilities. Then the boss snapped at me, first saying that he had every right to fire me then and there for discussing pay against company policy (which I wasn't aware we even had). The next snap was about responsibilities and how the coworker was promoted to a team lead position for a reason (there is no such hierarchy within the team). The meeting shortly after concluded. I was supposed to settle my differences with the coworker for going behind his back. My pay will be discussed at a later date if I work it out with the coworker. I don't know what I'm supposed to “work out” or what “differences to settle”. My issue is preferential treatment. I'm overworked and my coworker is regularly leaving work early for “justifiable” reasons.
I now realize that call for a physical meeting was a method of having no paper trail. In the future, I will insist on e-mail.
I'm gutted and scared. I don't know what to do and feel like I've already been fired. I apologised to the coworker for going behind their back even though I didn't really mean it. I'm at a loss. I live paycheck to paycheck and I'm not sure what to do.