My(m20) manager threatened to "ruin my promotion" if I snitch about another manager(m29) dating a minor(f17)

I currently work in Walmart and have been for the past two years, and a couple of weeks ago, we had a vacancy open up for one of our logistical managers who worked in the backroom. I've worked in the backroom more than anywhere else in the store, and a manager who's been pushing for my promotion (we'll call him Dave) is supposedly dating an employee who is currently 17 years old, and a few of the people who I work with don't really like her, and they've spread around some gossip that I've tried to stay clear of. I work in the backroom, so it is easier than most. I usually work alone and away from the registers where most of the more personable people go in my opinion, but I digress. I go to work, do my job, do it as best I can, and want to go home as soon as possible. My dad always told me to stay shy of office politics, and he used to be a shop steward before he retired, and I've talked to him about the situation I'm writing about now, but I wanted to get some other opinions on the matter too

The 17 year old girl works in soft lines, so most of the time, I only see her in passing, and we've only held a conversation about two or three times. Most of what I hear about her comes from people who I'm working with to unload trucks in the back and break them down, and they told me that Dave was always following her around and planning to promote her as some rumors have it, which according to them, is why some people don't like her. I won't lie, I sometimes enjoy listening to how life is in the store away from the boring backroom, but I'm never in a position to be involved with any of the hoopla, and even if I was, I wouldn't do it anyway

However, one of the soft lines managers asked to talk to me in the truck after one of shifts (and after I had already clocked out), and she accused me of writing a recognition note saying that "Dave is fuc____ Brianna" and posting it on the board, and I swear that I had no idea that that existed until she told me. When I told her that, she said that she's been hearing "some inappropriate things about her" and that "someone told a manager that I had been talking", and she was dead set on the idea that I wrote the note. I told her again that this was the first I've heard of it, along with how I'm technically off the clock as well, but she said she didn't appreciate me trying to "ruin Dave's career" and that if she heard anything else about it, that she would take it to our general manager and that that would be a "very different conversation", along with how she assured me that "they weren't dating", and I should've went straight to HR in hindsight, but as she was walking away, I was too scared to and just went to my car, and this happened yesterday as I'm still pissed about it

I talked to one of my friends who also works with me, and I told him what happened and that I didn't think it was appropriate for her to pull me aside like that after I had clocked out for the day, and he said it was weird how she asked to talk to me in the truck specifically where there were no cameras or anything to be put on record, along with not giving me a heads up about it beforehand. He also told me that Dave's girlfriend posted photos of her and Dave making out on their Instagram story before, so everything she said was a bunch of BS, and I want to go back to HR as soon as tomorrow (my next shift while it's still fresh), but here's what I'm nervous and probably too emotional to see clearly right now

Dave is a good guy, and he is one of the people who have been talking me up for this promotion, although I think that I'd still get it maybe without him doing that, and personally, I don't care what his personal business is. I don't work in soft lines, and neither does he. I work in the back, and it wasn't my business until she confronted me and accused me for writing a note I didn't write. However, I'm also worried that someone has it out for me, and maybe whoever told said manager that "I was (supposedly) saying shit) when I wasn't to screw with me, and I'm worried about that. I plan to go back to HR tomorrow for my next shift, but I'm not sure if I'll be emotionally prepared or had the chance to prepare in enough time, so I wanted to ask for an outside perspective on how to best go about bringing it up, along with how to address the fact that she explicitly threatened me, I feel like. And even after I go through with this, I'm not sure if it'd be too awkward to stay here even with the promotion or if I should start looking for another job because no matter how this goes, it's probably gonna get ugly and weird. Thanks in advance to anyone who helps and provides a perspective that I maybe can't see in time for tomorrow

TL;DR: A manager from soft lines threatened to "ruin my promotion" if I snitch about another manager dating a minor when I don't even work on the salesfloor, and I stick to the backroom away from most of the drama. She also accused me of writing a recognition note that says "Dave is fuc____ Brianna" that I knew nothing about until she accused me of it, and she accused me of this in the truck (where there are no cameras) after I had punched out for the day, and I want to ask for advice before going back for my next shift tomorrow and going to HR, since my mind is probably too emotional to sort everything out in just 24 hours

Submitted March 22, 2021 at 11:52PM by ThrowRAthisbattle https://ift.tt/3caTwKY