( CNN ) -- For some , a Twix bar is the delicious chocolate-caramel candy with a cookie crunch . But for Robert McKevitt , a Twix cost him his job and , he says , his house and girlfriend . On October 22 , McKevitt , a veteran , was working his shift as a forklift operator at Polaris Industries ' plant in Milford , Iowa . It was a temp job that he had secured thanks , in part , to a government program that gives companies tax credits for hiring veterans . McKevitt , 27 , toured Kosovo and Afghanistan as part of the Army National Guard . `` It was about halfway into my shift and I had a few extra minutes . I was going to the restroom and the vending machine was next to it , '' McKevitt told CNN by phone from his brother 's home in Spirit Lake , Iowa . `` I was going to grab a candy bar and then go to the restroom . '' McKevitt said Thursday he was riding his forklift and as he approached the restroom he noticed the vending machine was a few feet from the wall . `` I thought it was a safety hazard , '' he said . `` I do n't know why I decided I wanted a candy bar , but I did . So I put in a dollar and it spun like it was going to give out the candy bar , but it did n't . It got hung up on the spiral thing that ejects the candy bar . '' What happened next is a matter of debate between McKevitt , Polaris Industries and a judge . According to a legal decision filed by an administrative judge with Iowa Workforce Development , McKevitt was involved in `` misconduct . '' The document , the result of an unemployment claim appeal filed by McKevitt , contains a statement from a Polaris representative saying that McKevitt `` was observed by a supervisor lifting a candy machine about one to two feet off the ground with a forklift and then dropping the machine to the ground , which he repeated fix or six times . '' `` When confronted , '' it reads , `` he had gotten about three candy bars out of the machine , and he claimed he had only shaken the machine to get out the candy bars that he had paid for that had not dropped on their own . As a result of this conduct , the employer discharged the claimant . '' Though he was fired in October , and the judge denied his unemployment claim in December , the Des Moines Register covered McKevitt 's story Wednesday , pushing it into national headlines . McKevitt told CNN his version of what happened after the Twix got stuck . `` I tried shaking it by hand , but it did n't do anything . Then I tried putting in another dollar and nothing happened . I could see the candy bar dangling and I was already having a rough day . My girlfriend was nine months ' pregnant and it was rough , '' recalled McKevitt . `` I shook the machine and the candy bar dropped so I was happy about that . But then I was upset that I had spent two dollars on a 90-cent candy bar , '' he said . `` Then I took it upon myself to move the machine back with the forklift . '' At this point , McKevitt said , a supervisor showed up and assumed the worst . `` It may have looked like I was stealing candy bars , but the machine stole money from me , '' he said . The next day , according to McKevitt , he met with human resources and his supervisors to discuss the incident and a day later he was suspended , pending an investigation . `` I was fired two days after my daughter ... was born , '' he said . After he was fired , the financial stress proved too much for McKevitt . His relationship with the mother of his daughter ended and , unable to make rent payments , McKevitt moved out of his house and in with his brother . McKevitt filed for unemployment , which Polaris denied . `` At that point I realized no one was going to hear my part of the story , '' said McKevitt , who filed an appeal with Iowa Workforce Development , including a 17-page letter detailing his side of the story . But , as bad luck would have it , McKevitt says he never got the notice for his hearing , so he skipped it . Only after his benefits were denied in appeal did he realize he had missed his chance to set the record straight . `` I had to take a job at Walmart making about half of what I was making at Polaris . I 'm making just under $ 9 an hour and before I was making about $ 16 an hour , '' McKevitt said . `` This issue was blown way out of proportion . ''
McKevitt , nine months ' , was fired from McKevitt , Polaris Industries plant in Afghanistan . A supervisor saw him lifting , then dropping a candy machine with a forklift -- repeatedly . Robert McKevitt : `` This issue was blown way out of proportion ''