A Bill for an Act
Page 1, Line 101Concerning a prohibition on whistleblower retaliation in
Page 1, Line 102law enforcement.
Bill Summary
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at http://leg.colorado.gov.)
The bill creates a civil cause of action for a peace officer if the peace officer reports or discloses conduct that is in violation of, or the peace officer reasonably believes is in violation of, any law or policy and the report or disclosure is a contributing factor in the employer of the peace officer's decision to take adverse employment action against the peace officer. A peace officer may seek the following damages:
- Reinstatement, with or without back pay;
- Any other equitable relief the court deems appropriate;
- Compensatory damages for other pecuniary losses, emotional pain and suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and other nonpecuniary losses; and
- Reasonable attorney fees and costs.
If the court finds that an action or defense brought was frivolous, groundless, or vexatious, the court may award costs and attorney fees to the defendant or peace officer, respectively.
The bill creates an affirmative defense to the action if the peace officer's employer would have taken the action that forms the basis of the suit against the peace officer, based on a legitimate nonretaliatory basis. The action is not subject to the "Colorado Governmental Immunity Act". The statute of limitations to bring the action is 2 years.
Page 2, Line 1Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
Page 2, Line 2SECTION 1. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 24-31-906, amend
Page 2, Line 3(1) and (3); and add (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), and (11) as follows:
Page 2, Line 424-31-906. Retaliation against whistleblower officers
Page 2, Line 5prohibited - private right of action - exemptions - procedures -
Page 2, Line 6definitions. (1) (a) Due to the strong public policy interests
Page 2, Line 7protected by prohibiting unlawful retaliation against
Page 2, Line 8whistleblowers, a peace officer's employer or the employer's agent
Page 2, Line 9shall not discharge, discipline, demote, deny a promotion to, transfer or
Page 2, Line 10reassign, discriminate against, harass, suspend, create a hostile work
Page 2, Line 11environment for, subject to corrective action or reprimand,
Page 2, Line 12issue an employment rating that results in the loss of pay or
Page 2, Line 13adversely affects eligibility for promotion or for an assignment
Page 2, Line 14for, lay off, reduce work hours for, knowingly provide false
Page 2, Line 15information regarding a peace officer for the purpose of
Page 2, Line 16negatively affecting future employment opportunities for, or
Page 2, Line 17threaten
a peace officer's employmentPage 3, Line 1peace officer, or otherwise discriminate against a peace officer
Page 3, Line 2in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because the
Page 3, Line 3peace officer disclosed in good faith information to the proper
Page 3, Line 4supervising authority that the peace officer reasonably believes
Page 3, Line 5shows:
Page 3, Line 6
(a)Page 3, Line 7
(b)Aor policyPage 3, Line 8another peace officer.
Page 3, Line 9(b) Departmental administrative procedures, such as
Page 3, Line 10suspension during an investigation, or departmental objective
Page 3, Line 11procedures used to distribute assignments or duties or meet the
Page 3, Line 12operational needs of the employer do not violate subsection
Page 3, Line 13(1)(a) of this section.
Page 3, Line 14(c) A peace officer who discloses information pursuant to
Page 3, Line 15subsection (1)(a) of this section in good faith is engaging in a
Page 3, Line 16protected activity.
Page 3, Line 17(d) This subsection (1) does not prevent an employer from
Page 3, Line 18complying with any disclosure requirements required by law or
Page 3, Line 19court rule or procedure.
Page 3, Line 20(3)
An employee or agent of a law enforcement agency thatPage 3, Line 21
knowingly or intentionally violates subsection (1) of this section shall bePage 3, Line 22
disciplined appropriately by the law enforcement agency.Page 3, Line 23aggrieved by a violation of subsection (1) of this section has
Page 3, Line 24a private right of action against the employer that violated
Page 3, Line 25subsection (1) of this section after the employee exhausts the
Page 3, Line 26internal administrative procedures pursuant to subsection (9)
Page 3, Line 27of this section.
Page 4, Line 1(4) An employee whose protected activity pursuant to
Page 4, Line 2subsection (1) of this section was a contributing factor in the
Page 4, Line 3employer's action described in subsection (1) of this section may
Page 4, Line 4be awarded all relief necessary to make the employee whole,
Page 4, Line 5including, but not limited to:
Page 4, Line 6(a) (I) Reinstatement, with the same seniority status that
Page 4, Line 7the employee would have had but for the violation of subsection
Page 4, Line 8(1) of this section; and
Page 4, Line 9(II) The amount of back pay with interest;
Page 4, Line 10(b) Any other equitable relief the court deems
Page 4, Line 11appropriate;
Page 4, Line 12(c) Compensatory damages for other pecuniary losses,
Page 4, Line 13emotional pain and suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish,
Page 4, Line 14loss of enjoyment of life, and other nonpecuniary losses;
Page 4, Line 15(d) Reasonable attorney fees and costs; and
Page 4, Line 16(e) Any request for reinstatement or for an award of
Page 4, Line 17reasonable attorney fees shall be made to the court after a
Page 4, Line 18judgment is entered in favor of the employee. The parties are
Page 4, Line 19entitled to a hearing on the request prior to the court's
Page 4, Line 20determination.
Page 4, Line 22(5) It is an affirmative defense to an action brought
Page 4, Line 23pursuant to this section if the employer shows by a
Page 4, Line 24preponderance of the evidence that the employer would have
Page 4, Line 25taken the action that forms the basis of the suit against the
Page 4, Line 26employee based on a legitimate nonretaliatory basis.
Page 4, Line 27(6) An action brought pursuant to this section is not
Page 5, Line 1subject to the "Colorado Governmental Immunity Act", article
Page 5, Line 210 of this title 24.
Page 5, Line 3(7) An action brought pursuant to this section must be
Page 5, Line 4brought within two years after the date of the most recent
Page 5, Line 5adverse employment action described in subsection (1) of this
Page 5, Line 6section.
Page 5, Line 7(8) (a) This section does not apply to an employee who
Page 5, Line 8discloses information that the employee knows to be false, who
Page 5, Line 9discloses information with disregard for the truth, or who
Page 5, Line 10discloses information without fully complying with subsection
Page 5, Line 11(9) of this section.
Page 5, Line 12(b) An employee's disclosure of the employee's own act of
Page 5, Line 13negligence, unprofessional conduct, breach of a P.O.S.T.
Page 5, Line 14certification requirement, or violation of any local, state, or
Page 5, Line 15federal law is not a protected activity pursuant to this section
Page 5, Line 16and does not provide the employee with immunity related to the
Page 5, Line 17activity subject to the disclosure.
Page 5, Line 18(c) This section does not prevent an employer from taking
Page 5, Line 19disciplinary action against an employee for reasons other than
Page 5, Line 20those specified in subsection (1) of this section.
Page 5, Line 21(9) (a) When making a good faith report or disclosure
Page 5, Line 22protected by this section, an employee shall follow the internal
Page 5, Line 23reporting and internal administrative procedures of the
Page 5, Line 24employee's employer, to the extent the procedures exist and are
Page 5, Line 25provided to the employee in writing, and shall exhaust the
Page 5, Line 26procedures prior to initiating a private right of action pursuant
Page 5, Line 27to subsection (3) of this section. If the internal reporting
Page 6, Line 1procedure requires an employee to report to the individual who
Page 6, Line 2committed the act described in subsection (1)(a) of this section,
Page 6, Line 3the procedure must provide an alternative reporting procedure.
Page 6, Line 4The limitations period in subsection (7) of this section is tolled
Page 6, Line 5until the internal administrative process is complete.
Page 6, Line 6(b) (I) A law enforcement agency shall complete the
Page 6, Line 7internal administrative procedure within one hundred eighty
Page 6, Line 8days after a report or disclosure.
Page 6, Line 9(II) If a law enforcement agency does not adopt an
Page 6, Line 10internal administrative procedure or does not complete the
Page 6, Line 11internal administrative procedure within one hundred eighty
Page 6, Line 12days after a report or disclosure, this subsection (9) is deemed
Page 6, Line 13complied with and an employee may file a private right of action
Page 6, Line 14in any court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to subsection (3)
Page 6, Line 15of this section. If the law enforcement agency's internal
Page 6, Line 16administrative procedure has not been completed when an
Page 6, Line 17employee initiates a private right of action pursuant to
Page 6, Line 18subsection (3) of this section for reasons beyond the control of
Page 6, Line 19the law enforcement agency, including but not limited to the
Page 6, Line 20existence of an open criminal proceeding or an open critical
Page 6, Line 21incident response team investigation, the law enforcement
Page 6, Line 22agency may seek a stay of the private right of action pending
Page 6, Line 23resolution of the source of the delay.
Page 6, Line 24(10) No later than January 1, 2026, all law enforcement
Page 6, Line 25agencies that employ P.O.S.T.-certified peace officers shall
Page 6, Line 26provide a training to employees or a workplace posting, or both,
Page 6, Line 27regarding the requirements of this section. If the law
Page 7, Line 1enforcement agency provides a workplace posting, the law
Page 7, Line 2enforcement agency shall place the posting in an area that is
Page 7, Line 3readily accessible to all employees and print the posting in a
Page 7, Line 4readable format. If the agency provides a training for new
Page 7, Line 5employees hired after the date of the training for existing
Page 7, Line 6employees, the law enforcement agency shall provide the
Page 7, Line 7training during the employee's orientation.
Page 7, Line 8(11) As used in the section, unless the context otherwise
Page 7, Line 9requires:
Page 7, Line 10(a) "Employee" means a peace officer as described in
Page 7, Line 11section 16-2.5-102 and a noncertified deputy sheriff as described
Page 7, Line 12in section 16-2.5-103 (2) who is employed by an employer and who
Page 7, Line 13has engaged in protected activity.
Page 7, Line 14(b) "Employer" means any political subdivisions of the
Page 7, Line 15state, including, but not limited to, a county, city and county,
Page 7, Line 16municipality, public school district, or special-purpose district
Page 7, Line 17or authority; and its agents, employees, or assigns.
Page 7, Line 18(c) "Proper supervising authority" means the person or
Page 7, Line 19department designated in the peace officer's employing law
Page 7, Line 20enforcement agency to investigate allegations of internal
Page 7, Line 21misconduct. If the employer does not have a policy designating
Page 7, Line 22a person or department to investigate allegations of
Page 7, Line 23misconduct, the proper supervising authority is the
Page 7, Line 24highest-ranking peace officer.
Page 7, Line 25SECTION 2. Safety clause. The general assembly finds,
Page 7, Line 26determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate
Page 7, Line 27preservation of the public peace, health, or safety or for appropriations for
Page 8, Line 1the support and maintenance of the departments of the state and state
Page 8, Line 2institutions.