Past Employer Refusing To Sign Internship Paperwork - Preventing Graduation. What Can I Do?

Hi all, I’m looking for legal advice regarding an issue with my former employer. This is my first post so apologies if it’s not the clearest.

I’m a 32-year-old student who returned to university in 2020. As part of my specialized degree, I was required to complete an internship during my senior year that I am currently in, graduating in May 2025. When I was hired by my previous employer, I informed them that I would eventually need internship hours signed off, and they agreed.

However, during my employment, I became pregnant and took maternity leave prior to my senior year. While on leave, I progressed to my senior year and upon return to my company at the end of my leave, completed my internship hours through my job as planned. While I was still at this company, they completed my initial internship agreement and hourly forms. Unfortunately I did not receive my evaluation forms until I left. I submitted my final internship evaluation form for my employer to complete and they are now refusing to respond to my emails or my school’s requests to sign the final paperwork. This is the only thing preventing me from graduating.

To clarify, I left the company because they changed my work arrangement. I was hired as a remote employee with a hybrid (two-day in-office) schedule. I am in California so (at-will). Upon my return from leave, they required me to return to full-time, in-office work within a month. Given that I was still a full-time student and had a newborn, this was not feasible. We only have (4 daycares close to us and all have long waitlists). We cannot afford a full time nanny/husband works outside of the home full time, I am the primary parent. Despite my efforts to work out a solution with HR spanning 4 months long, they refused to accommodate, refused letting me start at home, try different hours, sticking to 2 day in office when my MIL can watch baby, I tried giving many solutions that were all denied. so I gave up trying, found another remote role that paid more and resigned with a polite email explaining just that.

Since leaving, I have sent multiple polite follow-ups (as this company is very corporate) to my former HR team/ hr director/ and team director, and my school has also attempted to contact them multiple times—without any response. To clarify( only my team director can sign these papers) my direct manager cannot unfortunately as she does not have the correct qualifications. I need this paperwork to graduate, and I don’t have time to complete another internship before my expected graduation in May.

Is there any legal recourse I can take to compel them to fulfill their obligation and sign the final evaluation form? They agreed to this from the start, signed the previous paperwork, and I completed the hours as required. I don’t want to pursue action over how they treated my leave or other employment issues—I just want this paperwork completed so I can graduate.

Any advice on how to handle this situation legally or how to escalate it would be greatly appreciated!