The Peggy Browning Fund Fall Newsletter 2021

4 2021 Fellowship Sujata Bajracharya National Treasury Employees Union Washington, DC This summer I was able to do a variety of work with both the Office of General Counsel and the D.C. field office. I really enjoyed the variety of work and the fact that the position gave me the chance to see both appellate and trial arbitration-level work. I had one large overarching research memo project for the OGC, focused on the use of the All Writs Act to get emergency relief while cases go through the administrative process. I was also able to sit in on, or help with different field office cases, each at different stages and dealing with different issues affecting union members, from an EEOC race discrimination case to a challenge to an award denial. Before this summer, I knew I was potentially interested in labor law, but was not sure whether litigation would be a good fit. Working with the OGC and the field office really gave me new insight into the wide variety of things that litigators can do and gave me confidence that litigation is an avenue that I am both interested in and that I could pursue going forward. “I very much appreciated the chance to interact directly with union members, stewards, and chapter presidents, as it gave me a sense of the wide variety of agencies and types of employees that the union represents,” shared Sujata. Renato Flores Legal Aid at Work San Francisco, CA I had the pleasure of working with Legal Aid at Work (LAAW) in the Community Legal Services Program. As their counselor, I also worked in their Workers’ Rights Clinic located throughout California. My goal was to gain a deeper understanding of employment law and to expand my network with other labor and employment attorneys. LAAW was a fantastic organization to help complete these objectives. I gained knowledge of employment law while assisting low income clients through the weekly clinics on issues from discrimination to unemployment insurance. I was also able to assist a client by representing him before the California Unemployment Insur- ance Appeals Board before an Administrative Law Judge. Being able to help that person struggling to get back on his feet and not dealing with an overpayment issue was a fantastic feeling. During the clinics, I was able to network with labor and employment lawyers which ultimately led me to secure a clerk position for my third year with Outten & Golden in San Francisco. Renato noted, that “A lot of the summer issues pertained exclusively to COVID-19 and the different laws that the California legislature was passing and how clients could benefit from those laws.” Summer Fellows Kenny Revoredo (left) and Viraj Patel (right) with mentor Marka Peterson at Strategic Organizing Center(formerly Change to Win) in Washington, DC