I think my manager is attempting to fire me.
I recently began working at Hollister Co again, part-time as I returned to college. I did not return to HCO to move-up the leadership ladder, I simply did it to help financially on the side.
I was hired again, happy to be back - no, not the best job but situational-wise it was a move I made. My boyfriend also applied, and was turned-down by the assistant manager. I understand this, it could be a conflict of interest. It wasn’t a big deal.
I worked one shift last week (first one). I provided my best customer service. I had families laughing, thanking me, and our mall felt to have a heartbeat again. It was am amazingly fun shift - I had horrible ADHD, and retail helps me like a duck in water, using my ADHD to direct towards providing great customer service (not to sound arrogant).
During the shift, a young girl was dancing in a fitting room (next to her parents). I smiled, seeing anyone happy enough to dance in a world where nobody wants to be themselves warms my heart. I told the young girl, “I’m sorry if I’ve embarrassed you, don’t ever stop doing what you love because someone’s watching.” During the shift, I asked my assistant manager about her college pursuit - as I am in college too. I asked her how long her she the store manager have worked together etc. After my shift I said, “thank you for giving me this opportunity, I’m extremely grateful to be back at Hollister, and it warms my heart”.
Today, my second shift, the air felt cold and tense. My manager was telling me to do things in a passive aggressive manner. I shrugged it off, often times this is normal in a new work environment. Towards the end of my shift, I helped a mother and daughter find what they wanted. They were ready to checkout, however i am not register trained yet, so I got my assistant manager. The mother continued conversation with me during the transaction. After the customer left, my AM looked at the SM and said, “He didn’t even let me get a word in”.
At the end of my shift - the store manager asked to speak with me. I knew it wasn’t going to be positive, she was passive aggressive with me throughout my whole shift.
My manager BOMBARDED me with so many things.
-I made the Assistant manager uncomfortable, she thought I said SHE made my heart warm, but I said returning to HCO made my heart warm. She felt I made her uncomfortable.
-the assistant manager reported it “inappropriate”, that I laughed at the dancing child and apologized for embarrassing her.
-The assistant manager felt I asked too many questions
-The assistant manager felt I inquired about her college pursuit because I wanted her job
-I was told I need to stop saying im grateful to be employed at HCO again
-I was told my boyfriend isn’t allowed to come into the store and wait in the food court
-I was told to tone-down my customer service
-I was told to not talk to a customer if I’m not at the register because I can cause a line to build up
-I was told that I am too old and my peers are young and what was appropriate in 2017 isnt any more
-I was told to stop asking coworkers questions regarding college or anything personal
-I was written up for telling a young girl to never stop dancing because she feels embarrassed - even though her parents did not report this, and they seemed happy and welcomed by my positive interaction - however management misinterpreted it and stretched it, even saying I made her uncomfortable.
-The store manager said she felt I wanted her job too (I DO NOT- I AM IN COLLEGE TO BECOME A TEACHER)
My heart aches over this. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know if the AM just bombarded the SM about me so much that she did this. But it felt like I was being bullied into resigning - less paperwork. I feel that their mind is made up, but to me it is completely inhumane to hit an employee with so much, even to tell them to stop saying that they are grateful. I asked her how I could be written up if the customers seemed happy and made no report. I reminded her that I am gay and I did not say my AM made my heart warm, my return to Hollister did.
I could use any and all advice. I feel contacting HR is a waste - an employee making 11$ an hour is better to dispose of than a manager (no i do not want to be a manager nor was that my intent). But I felt bullied, and I felt it was a cancel-culture tactic that made me look horrible. I am not looking for advice on revenge, I just felt mistreated, and bullied, and my heart hurts. “Justice”, is probably the improper term - but I want to do something because I am wise enough to know that they will fire me or continue to scold me until I resign.
Do I contact HR? Are there laws about this? And is this a new tactic managers use to push employees out? Instead of the paperwork to fire someone, back them into a corner, amplify everything and break them into quitting? If-so, that is absolutely despicable and I’ve never seen it before. Most I’ve seen is a manager cutting hours to an employee they don’t much like - not psychologically breaking them down like what happened today. I felt accused of making a child uncomfortable, sexually harassing my manager, so many things were misinterpreted and it’s heart-wrenching. There may be homophobia involved, my age was mentioned a lot, she may just simply not like me, I don’t know - which is why I’m here today. Sorry for the paragraphs, I am looking for advice. The workforce seems so different now and cancel-culture is a big problem. Thank you in advance, everyone!