Workplace discrimination in Colorado is prohibited under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) and federal laws.
Employment discrimination is not always obvious. Sometimes it is a supervisor who passes you over for a promotion while making comments about your age. Sometimes it is a pattern of exclusion that only becomes clear when you step back and look at how you have been treated compared to your coworkers. Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) and federal law provide broad protections, and understanding them is the first step toward holding an employer accountable.
Protected Characteristics Under Colorado Law
The Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, codified at C.R.S. section 24-34-401 and following, prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, religion, creed, disability, age (40 and over), and marital status. Colorado’s explicit inclusion of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, codified through HB21-1108, makes the state’s protections broader than many other states and reinforces the federal protections recognized by the Supreme Court in Bostock v. Clayton County.
What Discrimination Looks Like
Discrimination can occur at any stage of the employment relationship. It includes biased hiring decisions, such as rejecting a qualified candidate because of their race or national origin; unequal pay or benefits based on a protected characteristic; denial of promotions, training opportunities, or desirable assignments; disproportionate discipline compared to similarly situated employees outside your protected class; constructive discharge, which occurs when an employer makes working conditions so intolerable that a reasonable person would feel compelled to resign; and termination motivated in whole or in part by a protected characteristic.
You do not need to prove that discrimination was the sole reason for an adverse employment action. Under both Colorado and federal law, you can prevail if you show that your protected characteristic was a motivating factor in the decision.
Discrimination Against Hispanic and Latino Workers
Hispanic and Latino workers in Colorado face particular vulnerabilities to employment discrimination, including language-based discrimination, national origin profiling, and immigration-related threats used as leverage by employers. Using immigration status as a tool to suppress complaints about working conditions or wages is illegal. Employers cannot retaliate against workers who assert their rights regardless of immigration status, and Colorado courts have recognized that discrimination on the basis of perceived national origin or ethnicity is actionable even if the employer’s assumption about the employee’s background is wrong.
Disability Discrimination and Reasonable Accommodations
Under both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and CADA, employers must provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees with disabilities unless doing so would impose an undue hardship. Reasonable accommodations can include modified work schedules, reassignment to a vacant position, physical modifications to the workspace, assistive technology, additional breaks, or permission to work from home. The employer is required to engage in an interactive process with you to determine what accommodations are feasible. Refusing to engage in that process, or terminating you instead of exploring accommodations, can itself constitute discrimination.
Filing a Workplace Discrimination Claim in Colorado
You can file a charge of discrimination with the Colorado Civil Rights Division (CCRD) or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In Colorado, you generally have 300 days from the last discriminatory act to file. Many people also choose to file directly in state court. An experienced employment attorney can help you evaluate which path provides the strongest leverage in your situation.
For Former Employees
If you were terminated or forced to resign because of a protected characteristic, you likely have a wrongful termination claim. Even if you left voluntarily, a constructive discharge claim may be available if your employer created conditions that no reasonable person would tolerate. Discrimination claims survive the end of the employment relationship, but deadlines apply. Consult an attorney promptly.
Believe you have been discriminated against? Call us at 303.593.2595 or contact us online for a consultation.