I have been working at a coffee shop. Most time I work alone or with one other employee. Recently we got a new manager and hired new employees. One of them I have been having a conflict with. I won't sugar coat this and realize there were things I could've done better like be more assertive before it became a big problem. On the first day I worked alone with him the store was very quiet. I found him very annoying. He would take out his tablet, put on music I didn't like and dance in circles around me. A lot of it's hard to put in words but he has mannerisms I find difficult to deal with. For example he would walk up to me, block my way when I'm trying to do work, and tell me a personal story like how drum sales went up when the song that was on the radio first came out.
The next day I asked if he could take a turn taking out the recycling. He said no because there wasn't enough. I can't clearly remember what happened next but we had an argument and shouting was involved. He said he shouldn't have to take out the recycling because I was petting a guest's dog earlier and wasn't doing my job. I told the manager what happened. She told the COO (which I didn't even know we had) and she came in person to make sure everything was OK.
I felt the rest of the day we worked well together. And the next day. However today he told me he refuses to work with me and has complained to "head office" about my "work ethic". I told him I need to step outside to make a phone call. I was on the phone with the manager and he comes running outside yelling "where did you put the orders! they aren't where they are supposed to be!" I asked him why he was so mad and he said because the other coworkers left them in a slightly different spot so it was like I wasn't following the rules: in reality we don't have such a specific rule, basically I placed them a few inches away from where he said other people told him to leave them.
He seems to have trouble understanding priorities. For example when I'm talking to a customer he probably shouldn't interrupt to ask where more bags are so he can preemptively get them. When I try to politely point these things out he gets really mad.
While I would like to keep the job, I feel the company has cared very little about fairness and safety. For example the employee handbook said we are supposed to have an emergency panic button and we don't. We just got a new manager who seems a lot more hands on. We agree I shouldn't work with him. I asked if she could fire him and she said no because he complained directly to head office and it's in their hands. I didn't really know there was a head office that got involved in things like this, I thought the manager was are only point of contact.
Considering this is only his first week I'm surprised they are not giving me more benefit of the doubt, was this a foolish assumption? Before this job I've never had to work alone with someone and I've never had such a confrontational disagreement. I'm wondering if there's any legal rights I should be aware of, and if nothing happens, what should I do? If I get to keep working full time and not work with him again, I would consider this resolved.Also the manager asked me to write to her saying I thought our issue had been resolved. Why would she want this?
