Seyfarth Synopsis: Seyfarth’s excellent publication “Cal-Peculiarities: How California Employment Law Is Different,” which is updated annually, highlights the many unique aspects of the Golden State’s employment law. Increasingly, other states have passed their own progressive employment statutes, warranting their own discussion. Colorado is one of these states. Discussed below are two Colorado statutes that were passed in recent years. Employers have been “caught by surprise” with respect to some of the ancillary provisions of these statutes, which are referenced in this article as the “fine print.”

Colorado Protecting Opportunities and Workers’ Rights (POWR) Act

The POWR Act was signed into law by Governor Jared Polis on June 6, 2023, and will go into effect on August 7, 2023. The legislation, which amends the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, is multifaceted. Some of the main provisions include:

• Lowers Burden of Proof For Harassment Claims. The POWR Act lowers the bar to prove a claim of harassment by rejecting the long-standing “severe and pervasive” standard. In its place, the Act adopts a standard that requires the conduct (either individually, or under the “totality of the circumstances”) be unwelcome and be subjectively offensive to the individual alleging harassment and objectively offensive to a reasonable individual who is a member of the same protected class. The Act expressly sets forth multiple factors to be considered as part of a “totality of the...

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