Location: Louisiana
New account because I don’t want to be tied to this any more than I already am.
After college, I started working for my aunt and uncle at their small business. I always tried to be an excellent employee. Always on time, did whatever they asked, and the customers really liked me.
They ended up selling the business months after I started, but talked with the new owners and convinced them to keep me on because I was good at the job. I moved up to General Manager under these second owners, which were 3 guys not much older than myself (25F at the time).
The second owners ended up selling to another man, Mr. Joe. Mr Joe was a hard ass business man who brought his whole family in on the job. His daughter took over most of my role, but my pay was the same(not much to begin with) so I had no problems.
The team I had moved on to other jobs when they found out the second owners were selling, so we were severely understaffed and I was overworked during the negotiations and transition phases.
When Mr Joe finally took over, his family helped out a lot. We began the hiring process and eventually we found some great girls to work with us!
After training them and getting everything running efficiently again, I finally gave myself a weekend off. Labor Day weekend, a big holiday for the business. Oops.
Well when I came back Mr Joe let me go. Which I understand, it was a big weekend and the “GM” should’ve been there.
Well fast forward a few years, my family is not getting along. My uncle thinks my mom is stealing from their father, she’s not. One day, my uncle throws in my face that I am a thief too! He said that Mr Joe told him I was fired for stealing cigarettes?!
This is absolutely NOT true. There is no telling who all Mr Joe or my uncle have said this to. I live in a small town and this could jeopardize my reputation and ability to work.
Is there anything I can do in this situation or do I just have to take it on the chin?