My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: Texas
Ok, back in 1978, I was convicted of Credit Card Abuse in 1978 (stupid kid back then) and received 3 years probation...I was later charged with a petty theft case and my probation was revoked...I spent 9 months in TDCJ (Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice) prison on a 3 year sentence. Upon release, I went to college, obtained an Associates Degree in Secretarial Science and totally turned my life around. I am and Executive Assistant supporting CEO's, COO's and CIO's - My highest salary has been right at $60K/year. I've held jobs working for the State of Texas, a major Mortgage Bank based out of California, and Major Hospitals.
Until this year, I never had any problems passing a background check...maybe because the case is over 35 years old...well, in 2008, my company shut down due to the crash in the mortgage industry and I started receiving unemployment benefits. I finally got a job about 6 months after I was laid off but my house note was 6 months in the rears...so, I continued getting unemployment benefits for another 9 months to catch up on my bills after I got a job. Well, TX Workforce Commission filed a theft case on me this past September (4 years later). The way I found out about the case is I applied for a very prestigious EA position with a well known Hospital and was offered the position and given a start date. The offer was rescinded due to this new theft case popping up on my criminal background check. The company sent me a copy of the background check and the 1978 case wasn't on it, just this new theft case. Had I not applied for that job, I wouldn't have known anything about the case much less the warrant that was out for my arrest.
I just received 4 years ajudicted probation with restition. My fear is that with this new case, I won't be able to get a good paying job in my field. I never listed my old conviction because it never hindered me (probably because it's over 35 years old)...but now with this new case and everyone seemingly doing criminal background checks, I just don't know what to do. My lawyer said if the application asks specifically if I've been convicted of a felony in the last 7-10 years, I can honestly say NO because as long as I complete my probation, this new case won't show up as a conviction...but the theft charge itself will show up. But if the question on the appication ask if I've EVER been convicted of a felony, am I to say yes? If I do that, I'm afraid I won't even be offered an opportunity to interview much less get a great offer. I'm so frusturated and concerned as I've never had a problem getting great jobs in the past, but now it seems I can't even get an interview offer.
Any advice that anyone can provide me is greatly appreciated!

