People’s actions and words align with their belief systems. When they suddenly don’t- they are lying. Believe them when they tell you who they are and stop defending their bad behavior. You can skip a lot of the confusion regarding what to do about people if you just remember who people are rather than what they are saying.
How many times have you been reprimanded by a manager for something they didn’t take the time to look at correctly before passing judgment? Taking a second or two to figure things out completely will take care of this highly toxic poor management trait. Resentment Banks and gossip will ruin your work environment with this shoddy management behavior.