I’d fire the jackass who wrote the note.
Why?
Too late, the damage is already done and Joe is very likely to end up with the manager’s job.
The employee writes on the note that the boss was 1+ hours late w/ no phone call.
The boss says 30 minutes.
The boss was "surprised" Joe left a note, instead of calling her.
Lets look at these things. Who's scamming who", Joe or the manager? Was it 1+ hour or a half hour?
Simple common sense tells us that if was simply 30 minutes, the manager would have called the store as soon as she got up realizing she was going to be late. The fact that she didn't, leads me to believe that she was more than the 30 minutes she stated. IF it was just 30 minutes, a phone call before leaving the house would have let the employee know that the manager was going to be a little late.
The fact that the manager was "surprised" that Joe left a note INSTEAD of calling her, tells me she didn't call Joe in the first place. A phone call from her BEFORE leaving her house would have stopped the employee from leaving, or if he did leave, wouldn't have written the note.
Lastly, if reporters or the owners really want to get to the truth, ask the person who took the picture if there is a time and date stamp on/with it. Most people are taking pictures with their phones. Phones record when pics are taken. Of course they could also just ask the person when they were at the store. Either way it would either verify Joe's 1+ hour statement, or the managers 30 minutes.
I lean closer to Joe's.