So I started a new job 2 months ago. Everything was great, I was constantly told how good I was with the children, how I was a natural and how I should go far within the nursery. 1 week later the manager handed in her notice and the deputy stepped down. I was then asked if I wanted to be deputy manager as I was more than qualified and they needed a person in charge. After much consideration and talking to the current manager and deputy I decided not to take it as I had t been there long and didn't feel like I'd earnt it.
There was a lot of upset in the risers around the manager leaving and we had a temp manager come in until they could find someone new. The deputy then decided to step back up into the position to support the temp and everything was fine.
Fast forward to two weeks ago, the temp manager pulled me aside and said someone had witnessed me dragging a child by the wrist, he sat down the I pulled him up to standing by the wrist and made him cry! I was completely shocked and extremely upset and ended up being sent home. I spoke to two other member a of staff who I was close to and that was it. The manager investigated and came to the conclusion it was a misunderstanding (it was a massive lie. I would never hurt a child!) and it was put to bed.
After that the deputy was extremely off with me, snapping at me, ignoring me and generally being unfriendly (previously she was all over me hugging me, telling me I was amazing etc). I was the. Off work for over a week as I moved house and was I'll.
When I returned on the Monday things were still awkward and she was barking orders at me and being unpleasant. On Wednesday she called me in for a probationary meeting and sacked me. She said that my references had t come back (I checked they were never sent!), that I was no good with the children, that I had inappropriate conversations about my personal life in front of children, that I was inflexible and that the issue of the child being hurt was dealt with incorrectly and I should have been fired for this! It's all a complete load of crap. I did have conversations about my personal life at lunch time and was actively encouraged to do so. I feel like I have been singled out and bullied out of a job I loved. She said that after the accusation of hurting the child my performance went down and I was no longer reliable. This is laughable as I was only in for 2 days after it happened!
Is there anything I can do? Is this going to affect the rest of my career? I'm so upset and angry. I can't believe someone would do this to another person :-(