Seems pretty simple to me. Somebody had to get fired. And it sure as hell wasn't kinfolk. Can't fire the other workers or they'd have no one to do the actual work. So you took the hit.

Companies aren't always fair or honest with their employees. Maybe its too much to expect.

I assume you landed on your feet, got another job, and so far have lived happily ever after. The traditional thing to do is to sue the um. well you know what we call someone who's parents weren't married. Most companies these days won't utter a word about such a situation because they're on the line for a huge settlement if they let it be known the circumstances and then the real situation gets uncovered.

I certainly sat on the sidelines and watched some very unethical behavior in other departments. Some of the fiction lived on for years, fully believed by the owner. In one instance I grew a set and pointed out to him that he's the only one who believes the story he was told, and that I surely didn't. He had to think it over for a few days, then came back to me and asked me what I had felt had happened. Then he went to several other upper management folks and got the identical story. Its kind of fun when those kept in the dark suddenly are confronted with the light of day.

__________________
Dick Burg