Legal Aid of North Carolina reports that Elon Law student Caroline Mauch L'14 won her first hearing on behalf of a client as an intern with the organization's Senior Law Project in Asheville, NC.
“In January, our client was fired from her job at a nursing home after 13 years of service. A month earlier, new owners had taken over the nursing home and, despite giving our client a raise, quickly wrote her up for a series of infractions and then fired her.
“Our client initially sought unemployment benefits on her own and was approved, but then her employer appealed, sending the issue to an administrative hearing before the Employment Security Commission. She came to Legal Aid of North Carolina for help.
“At the June 25 hearing, the employer was represented by counsel who had previously worked as an appeals referee. Despite the seeming imbalance of power, Caroline successfully proved no misconduct or substantial fault on behalf of our client, securing over $7,000 in unemployment benefits.
“Caroline is a rising third-year law student and member of her school’s Public Interest Law Society. She is interning with us as part of our annual Martin Luther King Jr. summer internship program. She is also a member of Equal Justice Works’ SummerCorp, an AmeriCorp-funded program for law student interns at nonprofit public service organizations.”