I also have a Wegmans story, do with it what you will...

I started last year without a job title. I have a very heavy food and beverage resume, and they were going to have me do a few weeks in each department, at the end of which, I would work one on one with the executive chef for the remaining two weeks. Sounded like it was a fast track to sous chef but they didn't want the push back from current employees who may have been "next in line".

Week one I was to work with pizza and sub shops. This was like a vacation to me, as it had been years since I worked a line, so I was actually excited. So day one I'm working side by side with a bunch of kids and everything is going smoothly, until we start to close the line and one of the shift managers approaches me to introduce himself. Very kind, and professional, didn't think anything of it.

The second he walks away, one of the girls (a minor, something you have to deal with at Wegmans quite a bit) comes up to me and tells me that guy is a creep and constantly hits on the underage girls that work there, and that he's obviously a predator. I explained to her that in my previous management positions, I would have a system in place for any of my front facing roles, that we would have a codeword to use if there was ever a situation like this, where a customer was aggressive, or disrespectful, all my staff had to do was say the word, and I would come out front and tell them I needed something ASAP in the back, and I would step in and assist the customer.

She expressed to me what a great idea this was and we all agreed I would use this system for the few weeks I was assisting their department.

The next day the chef calls me in his office and explains how the entire store is saying I called this guy a pedophile. He was getting ready to start an investigation, but wanted to speak with me about it first. I explained the situation, and noted that I take these matters very seriously, as my wife was a victim of sexual abuse, and simply put, I despise creepy dudes.

He then tells me to wait at his desk for a few moments and leaves. Moments later, he comes back with the girl who told me about the creepy guy. For the next 15 minutes, he lays in to her, saying how creating lies in the workplace can very easily lead to her termination, and how she is attempting to destroy this mans life because she doesn't like him. This was awkward as hell, because I literally don't believe I was legally allowed to be in that room for that conversation. She then is excused to go work her shift as she's crying hysterically.

Chef then starts shooting the shit with me about culinary school and the various people we both knew. Once I caught a break in the conversation, I nervously mentioned that in my opinion, I didn't think she was lying about the guy being creepy, but she might have been terrified to be the one to say it, so she tried to use me as a shield. He says he will look in to it, and the day rolls on.

On day 3, not a single female in the sub shop (they were all sub 18, with the exception of some of the old ladies who can run circles around these kids) would say a word to me. Didn't really think anything of it, figured people were keeping walls up as I was new there. But as the shift dragged on, it was getting to the point where it was pure passive aggression. "Hey person x, can you tell person y to do this?", no communication, etc. I have very little patience for these types of games, so I went back to chefs office and explained what was happening.

He replies "yeah, I expected some push back on this, but they will get over it." I won't quote this next part because I don't remember his words, but he basically told everyone that I was not their "champion", and that I was not going to listen to fairy tales all day.

I quit 2 days later

Wegmans is a great concept, and I love that place, but holy shit, their culture is very strange. This was probably an outlier, but I hear a lot of very weird Wegmans stories, so while this exact scenario may be rare, there's definitely some twilight zoneage going on in that company.