company policy

by Lorie
(Houston, TX)

I was charged with felony theft when I received more food stamp benefits than I was supposed to because I did not report all income. This occurred one year before I started the job that I requested unemployment benefits on. I was charged with felony theft a year later while working the job. The food stamp case was not connected to this job. I agreed to deferred adjudication on the felony theft thinking that I would be able to keep my job based on my reading of one section of the employer's policy which did not state that I could be dismissed for deferred adjudication but only for convictions. A later policy which was not referenced in the initial policy states that an employee can be dismissed for accepting certain deferred adjudications because deferred adjudication is considered a conviction for the purposes of employer's policy. My argument is that the policies are inconsistent in that the initial policy only requires dismissal based on convictions and does not reference the later policy regarding deferred adjudication being a conviction for policy purposes. I had no knowledge of the later policy because I thought the initial section that dealt with convictions was exhaustive. The employer states that I signed a document stating that I read the policy.




Just one question was the "later policy" instituted before or after the deferred judgment?

Was there any mention of retro activity of the policy that might require you to be forthright at that time and can the employer prove you were made aware of this "later policy"?