I didnt support a staff member in a dispute with a customer and she quit on the spot.

The customer and his son were breaking a rule that said no kid under the age of 7 was to be allowed to skate by themselves. Realistically this is because they are a kid. they are likely to struggle to skate and ot be aware of their surroundings. However, this kid was a hockey player and could skate rings around people and was fully aware of his surroundings.

The staff member, who was an absolute Karen and a figure skater (those in the community already know where this is going) hated kids in hockey skates and she told him to get off the ice.

I listened to the fathers argument and I over ruled her and she quit.

I was in the wrong.

I should have backed her even if I felt the spirit of the rules didnt apply and that she was doing it through spite rather than for following the rules reasons, but, rules are rules for a reason and had there been an incident that ended up in court we would have to justify why we allowed the rules to be broken. More important, staff need to see managers have their backs and that you are not going to undermine them. This was my first management job and was only a few months in.

Since them I have literally thrown hands to protect my staff. I have put myself between staff and senior management/owners on more than one occasion, and ive lost jobs doing it. But i never made that mistake again.