A law passed in 2020 to protect employees who raise concerns about workplace violations of health and safety during a declared public health emergency has resulted in 126 complaints alleging retaliation since it was signed into law.

Colorado House Rep. Leslie Herod, a Denver Democrat, says this is evidence that HB20-1415 is working. Herod, Sen. Robert Rodriguez, Sen. Brittany Pettersen and Rep. Tom Sullivan plan to introduce another whistleblower bill this week that would expand these protections for private and public sector workers even beyond a declared public health emergency.

The 2020 law aimed to prevent employers from discriminating or retaliating against their workers for bringing up safety concerns and would allow employees to file related complaints to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment for review before taking issues to court. The 2022 bill is expected to provide the same options for workers.

Herod provided data from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment during a news conference Wednesday and said the state agency is actively investigating eight complaints under the 2020 law, with 30 in review pending a notice of right to sue. Of 96 claims reviewed and full investigations of 11, seven resulted in settlements, four in a final determination, 33 issued a notice of right to sue, four withdrew their complaints and the remainder were dismissed.

“… we know and I think we can all agree that no one in our state should fear losing their job or...

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