I got into a verbal confrontation with a head cashier at my retail job. She’s not my supervisor, but I am often on the front end and do sometimes help out by cashiering. She has a history of being very antagonistic and rude. Long story short, we were arguing by a register, and I lost my temper and started cursing at her and threw the item we were arguing about on the floor in front of us.
We both had to go speak to the store manager who said I would be written up for cursing her out, and I thought that was the end of it. A week later I got called into the manager’s office again and was told that I was suspended without pay while HR investigates the incident. I filled out an incident report explaining what happened.
I’ve been out of work for a few days and don’t know when I’m going to be able to come back. I just found out through one of the witnesses they interviewed that the woman lied and said that I threw the item at her. There are one or two witnesses who know what actually happened, and I’m sure the security cameras would have caught it too. I believe she is the one who escalated the incident to HR, lied about what occurred, and that’s why I was suspended.
I’ve never been in a situation like this before and don’t know what to expect. When HR realizes she lied, is it likely that she’ll be fired? Should I expect back pay since she lied about me physically harming her? Or do these things depend on the company or state (this happened in AZ)? Should I contact an employment lawyer? Any other advice? Thank you