Ok, this is probably going to be pretty long. I worked at a large retail store until recently (this past Monday to be exact). When I got back from vacation (the Con and then Florida), I was called into the managers office and fired for 'gross misconduct'. Let me give the background and see what you think. I'm leaving individual names out, so it may get a little unwieldy. I'm also paraphrasing much of the conversation, because while I remember the gist of the conversation I don't remember the exact words.
This incident happened Wednesday night (July 31st).
Ok, here goes. Payday is on Thursday, every other week. Since I was flying out of town Thursday morning (to attend the Con) I asked my manager (and there are several, each in charge of different areas of the store) if I could pick up my paycheck Wednesday night (so I could drop it off on the way to the airport and have some spending money for my trip). He replied "Sure, I'll take care of it for you". The initial request was made several days before Wednesday. Wednesday morning I asked my manager if he had in fact 'taken care of it for me'. He replied that he had not, but that he would before he left for the day.
I took my lunch break at 4 pm, and I went to the payroll office. I asked the payroll girl if my manager had informed her that I could pick up my check today instead of tommorrow (which is the normal day to pick up your check). Her reply was -
"No, I'm not giving you your check today, you have to wait until tommorrow".
I then said "But my manager said I could pick my check up today"
"If your manager wants you to have your check, he can come in here and get it himself and give it to you, I'm not going to"
"But my manager went home, and I'm flying out of town tommorrow morning to go on vacation."
"I don't care, I'm not giving you your check today."
At this point I called it quits and went to find another manager. I asked her if my manager had said anything to HER about me being allowed to pick up my check early. Her reply was "No he didn't, but if he said you can get it early then you can". A little relieved, I went to go eat lunch and smoke a cigerrette before heading back to work.
Later, on a break, I walked past the payroll office again. I decided I'd ask the clerk about my check again, since the manager on duty had now said it was OK for me to get my check. She had the door propped open (they have a mag-locked door that you need the combination to open) and was chatting with another female employee. I walked up to them and stood waiting for them to finish their conversation so that I could ask about my check. The payroll clerk would have none of that however, and a few seconds after I walked up she snapped-
"What do YOU want?" at me.
I replied "I want to talk to you about my check again".
At this point she had apparently had enough, and she shouted (yes, shouted) -
"I'm not starting this tonight! I've got to put up with this Thursday and Friday, and I'm not doing it tonight!"
Apparently she has some sort of problem with handing out checks, a rather integral part of her job function.
At this point I did a bad thing. I finally lost my temper. I said back (in a calm and controlled voice, mind you- I NEVER raised my voice throughout this conversation) *POTENTIALLY OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE, COVER YOUR KIDDIES EYES*
"Look, I know you don't give a toejam about me or why I need my check, but I've asked two different managers and they both said it was OK, so why don't you give me my check?"
Now, that is what I remember saying. According to the payroll clerk, I may have thrown in the F-word a couple times to (I do tend to use that as a descriptive adjective when I'm pissed off, i.e. 'my sweet check", etc.).
Never did I, in my opinion, cuss AT her (i.e you stupid sweet squeak, etc.).
I honestly don't remember what she said next, but it was something along the lines of "no, I'm not giving you your check". At that point she slammed the door and the conversation was over.
I went back to work, and when my shift was up (at 8 p.m.) I went to the manager on duty and told her that I needed her to get me my check, since the payroll clerk refused to do it. She was busy, so I had to wait until she got done. The new manager came walking out of the office and informed me that I had deeply offended the payroll clerk with my use of 'vulgar language' and that I would get a talking-to from my manager when I came back from vacation. Since I was still fed up in general, I basically let her know that I didn't give a rat's bellybutton what she had to say, all I wanted to do was pick up my check and leave, thank you very much. Finally, the manager on duty came and got my check, and I left. I was informed by the other manager (the new one) that using vulgar language was a "terminatable offense" (at least I think that was what she said).
So, when I got back, the 'new manager' (the same one that tried to give me a dressing down Wednesday night) called me into the office at the end of my shift and informed me that I was being 'terminated as a result of my actions on Wednesday night".
Sure enough, there IS a rule against using foul language in the "Handbook" (basically the book that says all the toejam they can fire you for, which is pretty much anything). Of course, there is also a rule against treating co-workers with disrespect- but I guess that part doesn't apply in my situation. I was informed that I could talk to the store manager today (when she got back from vacation) and ask her to 'review' the situation.
I spent most of the day hanging around my place of former employment, talking with my former co-workers, while waiting for her to get done with whatever she was doing (which was a lot of stuff, I was pretty far down on the priority list). When we had our little discussion, I brought up the fact that yes, of course I was angry, and that I had lost my temper- from my point of view I'd had two managers lie outright to me in saying that they'd take care of it, and one snotty little payroll clerk excercising what little power she had in life just for toejams and giggles. I still don't think I did anything wrong. When I brought up the fact that the clerk had in fact raised her voice before I did any cussing, she explained that they are two totally different things, and that I had creating an 'uncomfortable working environment' for the poor payroll clerk. She actually said that had I merely started yelling (without using foul language I presume) they would have no cause for terminating me. She also said that I should have been 'nicer' to the poor clerk- and I was quite courteous up until the point the clerk started yelling. I guess thats just a personal failing though.
She did say she would 'review' the case, but she also said they had written documents stating that I cussed the poor payroll clerk out, so I'm pretty sure that she has made up her mind already.
I guess I've got two questions for anyone that has actually read all this through-
1. Do you think I was justified in using 'foul language'? If not, do you believe the manager was justified in firing me, or do you think something else would have been more appropriate?
2. If you have any experience in hiring people, answer this question for me. If I list them as a reference (and I'll pretty much have to since I've been working there for a year- if I left a year blank in my employment history I'm pretty sure eyebrows would be raised), it is my understanding that the potential employer only asks a few questions. One of these questions is "Why is XXX no longer employed at YYYYY?" I gather the answer to that question would be "Oh, we fired him for 'gross misconduct'". As a potential employer, would you even bother to find out what my side of the story is, or would I be immediately written off as a potential employee?
