I sacrificed my job to save my manager who threw me under the bus
Scrambled tofu, impossible meat, and falafel in a flour tortilla
I served as a waiter at a really nice vegan restaurant in a big city 2–3 days/week. My main job is remote, and I'm on my computer all day, so it's a good way to improve my communication skills and get on my feet. I genuinely enjoy serving and try my best to be an honest, hard-working employee. I go out of my way to make everyone else's jobs easier, especially since I'm young and energetic, and a lot of my coworkers rely on this for their living, have kids, live stressful lives, etc.
My partner and I have decided to move away from the city to try someplace new, so this upcoming week was going to be my last (I gave my boss a very generous notice, of course).
This night, I seated a large party, and the bill was in the hundreds. They all loved me and gave generous tipper vibes. After they left, the check was nowhere to be found. Nobody knew where it went, and we even dug through the trash to make sure. Nothing. Keep in mind, it's only me and 1 other server, and the tips are pooled, so my poor coworker is also losing out on a lot of money.
When it's clear we can't find it, I go to the manager and say something like "I have to put the tip as 0% since the bill is missing, right?" To my surprise, they say "No, you can put whatever you think is right." At first, this sounded a bit unethical, but both my coworker and manager were essentially pressuring me not to put 0%, so I didn't. We decided on 20% since they were a large party, and I was supposed to add a mandatory gratuity in the first place but forgot. I realize now that this was irresponsible and immature of me. The pressure got to me, and it was very clear that these guests probably wouldn't even look at their bank statement, let alone fight the charges (assuming they even tipped less than 20% in the first place). Still not right, I know, but that was my thought process at the time.
A few days pass, and my boss, the owner of the restaurant, asks me what happened. I realize that if I tell her the true story, my manager and coworker may get in trouble. Meanwhile, I have like 2 or 3 days left to work before I leave. So, I decide to tell the story, but leave out the part where my manager and coworker actively tell me to leave a tip. I tell my boss that I informed the table of the automatic 20% large party charge when I handed them their bill (lie), but that they gave me their card without even looking at the bill (true). I essentially take full responsibility for the entire decision.
A day passes, and my boss responds, saying that this is a huge violation of their policies and that they refunded the table's tip, and I will not be receiving any of that money. They also say "[The Manager] explicitly told you not to add the 20% gratuity if the check was lost." Excuse me?? They, in fact, explicitly told me NOT to put 0% on the bill.
Despite my blood boiling, I decided to be the bigger man and still take the fall plus I apologize profusely. That manager was honestly a great person to work with. What they did here was super shitty, and I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes and consider revealing the truth to my boss. I'm not even sure if it would make a difference at this point.
Although I wasn't technically fired, I wasn't scheduled to work my last week, which I consider being fired. Every boss I've ever had has adored me, and I've never been fired before, so I feel horrible. I know at the end of the day, this was all still my fault, but the lie that my manager told makes it sound like I deliberately disobeyed an order which is not my character at all. I was the one who pulled the trigger and put in the tip, but I would never have done it if they told me not to. I know it's just a dumb serving job in a city that I'll probably never live in again, but I've always been considered a great server, and this was a huge blow to my ego and morale. I was planning to serve in the new city that I'm moving to, but now I don't think I will.
I'm already halfway over it, but I feel I needed to write it all out somewhere. Thanks for listening to my rant.
TLDR: My restaurant manager convinced me to add a tip to a lost check and then told my boss that they explicitly told me not to. I went along with it and took the fall since I was leaving soon anyway.