Queer Legal Update: Job Protection and Civil Rights Act

The Colorado Court of Appeals just ordered both parties debating the constitutional question of LGBTQ job protections in Colorado.

The dispute is over how this act should be interpreted when it comes to queer protections. Local hospital Denver Health is claiming that this waiver only applies to the state and not special districts like water, recreation, and the science and culture division or Denver Health. Lawyers opposing Denver Health claim that these protections do in fact extend to divisions of the state.

The official constitutional question is as follows:

“To the extent that the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) creates a distinction between (a) employees of the state and (b) employees of the state’s political subdivisions, commissions, departments, institutions, and school districts with respect to the availability of compensatory damages, does that classification violate equal protection guarantees under the United States and Colorado Constitutions?”

Folks opposing this exception for state facilities are concerned not so much specifically with Denver Health but with the idea that if CADA in fact does not apply to state agencies, then discrimination against LGBTQ folks could be legally allowed.

Stay tuned for more updates as progress on the case unfolds.