Section 8-4-120 - Discrimination and retaliation prohibited - employee protections - criminal penalties - civil remedies(1) An employer shall not intimidate, threaten, restrain, coerce, blacklist, discharge, or in any manner discriminate or retaliate against any employee who has: (a) Filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under this article 4 or any other law or rule related to wages or hours; or(b) Testified or provided other evidence, or may testify or provide other evidence, in any proceeding on behalf of the employee or another person regarding afforded protections under this article 4 or under any other law or rule related to wages or hours.(2) An employer who violates this section commits a class 2 misdemeanor.(3)(a) An employee who alleges a violation of subsection (1) of this section may file a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction against the employer alleged to have violated this section to seek legal and equitable relief as appropriate to remedy the violation, including: (II) Reinstatement of employment or, if reinstatement is not feasible, front pay;(III) The payment of wages unlawfully withheld;(IV) Interest on unpaid wages at a rate of twelve percent per annum from the date the wages were first due;(V) The payment of a penalty of fifty dollars per day for each employee whose rights under this section were violated and for each day that the violation occurred or continued;(VI) Liquidated damages in an amount equal to the greater of two times the amount of the unpaid wages or two thousand dollars; and(b) If the employee prevails in a civil action brought pursuant to this subsection (3), the court shall award the employee reasonable attorney fees and costs.(4) The division may investigate and enforce discrimination or retaliation prohibited by this article 4 or article 6 of this title 8 and, after investigation, may order the relief specified in subsection (3)(a) of this section.Amended by 2022 Ch. 370,§11, eff. 8/10/2022.Amended by 2021 Ch. 462,§88, eff. 3/1/2022.L. 2003: Entire article amended with relocations, p. 1862, § 1, effective August 6. (1) This section is similar to former § 8-4-124 as it existed prior to 2003, and the former § 8-4-120 was relocated to §8-4-117.
(2) Section 803(2) of chapter 462 (SB 21-271), Session Laws of Colorado 2021, provides that the act changing this section applies to offenses committed on or after March 1, 2022.
2022 Ch. 370, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).