Legal Question in Criminal Law in Texas

Situation: I work in a factory. We get a base hourly pay plus we receive commission based on our performance every day. We write down what we do on paperwork that the company uses to determine commission and it is turned in at the end of the day. The supervisor is required to view and sign off on it to make sure it�s correct. It has been common practice for years by most employees to exaggerate on the paperwork to receive more commission. The supervisors know this and have allowed it to happen. All employees know about the cheating and most of management. We got a new production manager a couple years ago. While reviewing the commission standards for my job, he noticed I was adding things I did not do. He obviously does not share the same sentiment as his management staff. He decided to fire me and to make sure I didn�t use the union to fight it, he said he would press charges if i did and I could get a felony for theft. We may be talking thousands over 8 years. I am sure I could get former employees and supervisors and maybe even current ones to testify that it was allowed to happen with me and many others. He never held a meeting or gave me a warning that it was no longer going to be allowed. I am not asking if it was wrong because i now believe it was even though many people did it. I am asking does he have a case and is there a chance I could be convicted?


Asked on 10/08/10, 10:44 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Mark Dunn Mark D. Dunn

Call his bluff. Fight it through the union. If the "exaggeration" has been known (and tolerated) all those years, then you didn't commit a felony.

Imagine if my neighbor came over and used my water faucet every day; he came over and turned on the water and filled up a bucket. I'd see him, and we'd smile and talk. Every day. Then one day I decide to be a jerk, and I call the police and tell them that my neighbore has stolen $875 worth of water from me. No judge in the world would convict my neighbor of a crime; I consented to what he did.

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Answered on 10/13/10, 2:58 pm


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