A non-profit organization founder speaks out after being fired over conservative political beliefs.
Republican Audrey Lynn Henson, a founder of College to Congress (C2C), a nonprofit organization that provides financial support to interns at Capitol Hill, filed a lawsuit against her self-founded organization after its directors fired her over her political affiliations.
Henson is known for her role in campaigning twice for former US President Donald Trump.
The controversy arose after Henson announced last year that she would run as a Republican for a congressional seat in Florida. However, the C2C’s board of directors ordered that she step down as CEO “due to her political affiliations,” prompting her to sue the organization last month.
In the lawsuit filed by Henson before the US District Court for the District of Columbia, her goal was to serve the low-income students access to “work in positions of power that for decades were reserved for the elite.”
She also stated in the suit how she interned for the Republican lawmakers and was a welfare recipient raised by a single mother and stated that she founded C2C in 2016.
Henson then claimed that she was replaced by an interim CEO, former Congressman Dennis A. Ross. She alleged that Ross was appointed and “was not asked to leave office” despite the latter’s recent announcement that he would run as a Republican for another congressional seat in Florida.
Moreover, the lawsuit also alleged that board members believe that “her conservative Republican beliefs posed a threat to the organization’s financial and reputational stability.”
“There will be no C2C if you stay,” a board member said, the lawsuit alleged.
“If you were a Democrat [this] wouldn’t happen. You would be praised,” said another member.
Meanwhile, C2C denied wrongdoing and said in an official statement that Henson’s complaint was “unfounded.”
“C2C will continue to work to make Congress more effective and reflective of the people it serves. We will have no further comment on pending litigation,” the organization claimed.
C2C is known for its objective to help congressional interns who may have limited financial resources and no political connections.
The organization provides financial assistance to cover their lodging, meals, transportation, professional wardrobe, and other needs while they live in DC and work.
“When Congress excludes students based on their socioeconomic status, it fails to create policies shaped by people from diverse backgrounds. A political system is only effective when it truly becomes the representative body it was created to be,” the organization’s website reads.
