discrimination
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Colorado justices rule tenants may cite landlords’ discrimination as defense to eviction
The Colorado Supreme Court clarified on Tuesday that tenants defending against an eviction may cite their landlords’ illegal, discriminatory conduct as means to stay in their homes. Last year, the legislature passed a law explicitly providing that a renter can defend against eviction if they show their landlord violated the Colorado Fair Housing Act and…
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10th Circuit agrees ex-DPS employee failed to prove retaliatory firing
The federal appeals court based in Colorado agreed last month that a former Denver Public Schools employee failed to show how her termination was connected to her act of speaking out against racial discrimination. Barbara Lindsay worked at Emily Griffith Technical College and participated in the 2019 hiring process for a new school director. She…
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Judge hears from psychologists, pre-K director in Catholic schools’ challenge to Colorado program
The director of Colorado’s universal prekindergarten program and a pair of experts in child psychology testified on Wednesday about the importance of LGBTQ inclusion as a trial continued in federal court over a constitutional challenge to the pre-K program’s non-discrimination requirements. Two Catholic institutions, St. Mary Catholic Parish in Littleton and St. Bernadette Catholic Parish in Lakewood,…
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Federal judge begins trial on Catholic schools’ claims against Colorado preschool program
A federal judge heard arguments and testimony beginning on Tuesday over whether Colorado’s new universal pre-kindergarten program unconstitutionally forces a pair of Catholic preschools to violate their religious beliefs about sexual orientation and gender identity in order to participate as providers. In August, the Archdiocese of Denver and other plaintiffs brought suit against the state,…
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Jury to decide ex-Weld County schools superintendent’s retaliation claim
A jury will decide whether Weld County School District RE-5J unlawfully retaliated against its former superintendent because she stood up against multiple incidents of racism, sexism and homophobia involving one of the district’s principals. U.S. District Court Judge Nina Y. Wang denied the district’s request to resolve the case in its favor without a trial, writing in…
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Jury to hear ex-La Plata County jail nurse’s retaliation case under new Colorado whistleblower law
A jury will decide whether a former nurse in the La Plata County jail experienced retaliation and discrimination under a Colorado law enacted early in the COVID-19 pandemic to protect whistleblowers who raise public health concerns in the workplace. Last month, U.S. District Court Senior Judge Lewis T. Babcock acknowledged no other courts had yet…
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Jury to decide Black employee’s discrimination claim against state
A jury will decide whether a state employee was subjected to racial discrimination when she was repeatedly passed over for promotions for reasons a federal judge deemed “incredible” and “flat out wrong.” Deanna Butler, who has worked for the government for 30 years, filed suit against the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment based…
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Judge blocks Colorado from enforcing non-discrimination policy against Christian preschool
A federal judge has blocked the state from “expelling, punishing, withholding funds from, or otherwise disciplining” a Christian preschool in Chaffee County, even though its policies appear to violate the non-discrimination requirements of Colorado’s universal pre-K program. U.S. District Court Judge Daniel D. Domenico last week granted Darren Patterson Christian Academy a preliminary injunction based…
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Federal judge agrees colleague need not recuse in case due to prior employment
A federal judge agreed last week that her colleague, a new appointee to Colorado’s U.S. District Court after a career representing the federal government, does not need to recuse from a recent civil case brought against the government. U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Prose joined the federal trial court earlier this year, appointed by the life-tenured…
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‘What’s the injury?’ Federal judge wary of Christian school’s challenge to universal pre-K program
A Christian school in Chaffee County argued to a federal judge on Thursday that it should be able to receive state money to participate in the new universal preschool program without having to abide by Colorado’s non-discrimination rules for providers. The Darren Patterson Christian Academy, which enrolls students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, is seeking…