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Doing everything right doesn’t always protect you from a boss who’s already decided she’s out to get you.

A shift lead arranged coverage for a family event nearly two weeks in advance, confirmed it with her assistant manager, and lined up a backup cashier.

But when the backup bailed and left the shift uncovered, the boss gave her a written warning and a threat of suspension.

Suddenly she was left picking up someone else’s mess.

Keep reading for the full story.

Boss gave me a verbal warning for not showing up to a shift I covered

So I (21F) work for a popular food chain as an SL and have been working there for the past 3 years.

The current GM recently got promoted, so I had known her before she was a GM, and we haven’t gotten along much.

So when an emergency arose, this employee needed the day off.

A week and a half ago I had gotten informed about this family situation happening the 1st of November that I couldn’t miss, so I had asked the assistant manager (a girl who barely started 5 months ago) if she could cover my shift for that day.

She agreed but had asked me to just find a cashier for the morning because she was coming in that day as a mid shift, so I did.

I called the cashier who is scheduled to work that night to see if he wanted to do a split shift and he agreed.

But that’s when her plan started falling apart.

A day later he tells me that he couldn’t work that night because it’s his cousin’s wedding, so I had informed the assistant manager about it and had also called in other cashiers at our store and at different stores to see if they wanted to come in, and they said no.

So I had told him that he needed to inform the GM that he wouldn’t be able to work that night.

Mind you, I had asked the assistant manager in front of the other SL and in front of a cashier if she would, and she said yes and that she would talk to the GM about it.

So when she came back to work, things got ugly fast.

That Sunday, coming back from work, I clock in and say hi to the GM and she immediately asked me to sit down and close the door.

She then goes on about how me not showing up affects everyone in the workspace and that it was very disrespectful of me to do, and that if I need the day I should have requested it because missing work for a party isn’t a valid excuse.

I had told her everything that I had done, when I informed everyone and why I would be missing it, and when she went to ask the assistant manager, she went on to say that she would cover my shift but that I needed to let the GM know.

But the boss wasn’t sympathetic about this at all.

The GM then went on to tell me that this would be her first and final verbal warning to me and that if this happened again there would be serious consequences, like cutting my hours down to one day or suspension.

Should I inform HR about it because it just happened yesterday?

Getting a shift covered is never fun, but it shouldn’t be this difficult.

What did Reddit have to say?

Sometimes being let go from an awful job is a blessing in disguise.

This commenter thinks checking in with HR is a logical next step.

This reader shares their workplace horror story.

This user thinks the coworker really dropped the ball and needs to be held accountable.

The assistant manager confirming coverage in front of witnesses should have ended this entire conversation before it started.

Instead, the boss who clearly wasn’t looking for the truth handed out a warning based on whatever story was easiest to believe.

None of the actual facts point to negligence here. They point to a cashier changing his mind about a shift then leaving someone else to pick up the blame.

Justice needs to be served here, so she might as well give HR the chance to make it right.