Okay, so here is how it panned out. I was told by an admin that the manager said what he did to Tom because he felt Tom was not pulling his weight and it was not fair on other staff, including myself, who were picking up the slack. He felt Tom was dawdling along while we were busting a gut. Tom does dawdle, and tbh I'm not sure if he can help it or not.

I think this has served as a reminder to me not to jump to conclusions. Which I tend to do.