June 10, 2022 by Nesibe Selma
Lone Star Legal Aid Helps Air Force Veteran Obtain Unemployment Benefits, Including Back Pay
Janelle Grant, a US Air Force Veteran, ended her duty and started working at a medical temp agency shortly thereafter. Ms. Grant had to take a leave of absence due to medical conditions complicating her pregnancy. Her employers knew of her pregnancy and its induced medical conditions. Once she was back at work, she was sent out on a brief assignment and was only notified of her termination after she completed the job. The agency said the termination was because they were downsizing and Ms. Grant’s performance. Fortunately, Ms. Grant applied for unemployment and was approved. Although initially approved, her former employer filed an appeal stating that Ms. Grant was not terminated. Instead, her failure to contact her employer 3 days during her medical leave of absence constituted a voluntary leave from work.
Ms. Grant reached out to Lone Star Legal Aid for legal assistance. Attorney Andrew Moore, in our Military and Veterans Unit, explained to Ms. Grant that unemployment benefits are based on a percentage of past earnings, and provided legal counsel on the unemployment appeal process. In under eighteen months, Lone Star Legal Aid successfully represented Ms. Grant in three Texas Workforce Appeals, all of which were approved. Ms. Grant received the unemployment benefits she deserved, which helped her provide for her two young children until she obtained stable employment elsewhere.
Lone Star Legal Aid is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit law firm focused on advocacy for low-income and underserved populations. Lone Star Legal Aid serves millions of people at 125% of federal poverty guidelines that reside in 72 counties in the eastern and Gulf Coast regions of Texas, and 4 counties of Southwest Arkansas. Lone Star Legal Aid focuses its resources on maintaining, enhancing, and protecting income and economic stability; preserving housing; improving outcomes for children; establishing and sustaining family safety and stability, health and well-being; and assisting populations with special vulnerabilities, like those with disabilities, or who are elderly, homeless, or have limited English language skills. Lone Star Legal Aid does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. To learn more about Lone Star Legal Aid, visit our website at www.lonestarlegal.org.
Media contact: media@lonestarlegal.org
