1099 Shenanigans, Blackmail

Let's say you made above average money driving with an eastern European owned, 50-100 unit carrier out of Chicago for a couple of years under a W9/1099, and had a great experience with good people and newer trucks and trailers, but you couldn't get a raise from them. You resign, collect your $1000 escrow and move on.

You do your research and find a similar 50-100 unit company, but the owner/operations manager does a bait and switch on you. The pay is accurate and on time, but after 6 weeks it's obvious you're not a cultural fit because you don't think the owner's violent bursts of verbal
assault on the phone is acceptable, and there's also the bait and switch*

You had a plan to move to another carrier in a week's time once they send you back to Chicago for some maintenance. But after one particularly abusive phone session yesterday, you feel your PTSD hitting you hard. Your hands shake, and you can hardly focus. You decide to drive to a nearby gym-sauna to recover a little. You find a shaded parking spot, but you're so out of it (i.e. deep in the bonehead zone) you don't even notice a massive tree branch, and you end up crushing the top left corner of the fiber glass shell of the cab. No damage inside the cab. I'm guessing it'll probably cost a few $Ks to restore.

You text the manager with pics. He calls and sounds completely chill, almost happy or relieved. 100% he wants to get you on record. He asks what happened, and the only option is to tell him you screwed up and take full responsibility, he says "we're going to have to charge you for this once we find out how much it costs." but he says it with uncharacteristic gentleness that sounded more serpentine than anything else. He casually suggests the possibility of switching trucks, likely to an older midroof International (as this vnl860 can be attractive to new hires), then explodes screaming once you ask him what he suggests be done to avoid rainwater potentially getting inside the shell.

What's the worst this person can do to you? And how would you get out of this situation with minimum damage financially and to PSP and DAC?

 

* first incident of bait and switch was with the passenger window. Upon picking the truck upon my first day from the company's contracted shop, he said the truck is still under warranty and he's not going to pay a thousand dollars for a part he can get for free from the dealer. I said fair enough. Once on the road between loads I texted him from a dealer asking what he wants to do about the passenger window, he calls me right away hollering and screaming calling me I'm going to the dealer for something we can fix at the company contracted shop. I thought probably dude was too busy to remember because
literally didn't let me get a single sentence in. This was on my second week, and it's been a pattern since then, total of seven weeks.

 

It says I'm responsible. I don't mind paying 100-200 (or more or less) every week until the fair and reasonable cost of the repair is paid off, but it'd be hell and a risk to my career and safety if I have to do it while working with him.

 

Based on the few phone calls, he sounds way too calculating and sinister to be helpless about his bipolar behavior. He probably have seen it work on too many introverted drivers that it just ballooned. F*** him

I'm looking up more info on psp and HireRight. I don't even know what's required to enroll in the latter.