Were you sexually harassed at work in Colorado Springs?
Unwanted sexual comments, messages, touching, advances, or pressure involving your job may be unlawful. Retaliation after you objected or reported it may be unlawful too.
If your workplace rights were violated, you may be able to pursue compensation for lost pay or emotional harm, and hold your employer accountable.
Not sure whether it was "serious enough"? You can request a review even if you never reported it to HR or are still employed.
What this looks like in real life, and what the law calls it.
Sexual harassment is usually smaller, repeated, and easier to doubt than people expect. The legal test is whether unwelcome conduct tied to sex made your job hostile, it does not have to be physical or loud.
He says the comments are jokes. They're about my body, and they happen every shift.
The law calls it → sexual harassment (hostile work environment)
- My manager hinted my hours depend on how 'friendly' I am after work. The law calls it → quid pro quo sexual harassment
- The comments stopped being about work a long time ago. Now it's my body, my clothes, my dating life. The law calls it → hostile work environment based on sex
- After I turned him down, my good shifts disappeared and my reviews got worse. The law calls it → retaliation, illegal even if the original complaint isn't proven
- They didn't fire me. They just made every day bad enough that I'd quit. The law calls it → constructive discharge
- I'm a caregiver working alone in clients' homes, and when I reported what a client kept doing, the agency cut my hours instead of fixing it. The law calls it → hostile work environment and retaliation
These cover unwelcome sexual advances or comments, quid pro quo (job tied to sexual conduct), hostile work environment based on sex, pregnancy and gender, sexual orientation and gender identity, retaliation for reporting, in any industry. If something here is familiar, you don't have to be sure before you ask.
Illustrative situations, not client accounts.
Colorado Springs workers are protected by the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, and the 2023 POWR Act means conduct no longer needs to meet the former 'severe or pervasive' test to qualify as harassment under state law. The state filing window is 300 days, but the city's large civilian federal workforce follows a different track with only 45 days to contact an agency EEO counselor. Which clock applies depends on who signs your paycheck, and that is the first thing worth confirming.
What could taking action help you pursue?
Depending on the facts, legal action may help recover financial losses, address emotional harm, restore employment opportunities, or require workplace changes. Available remedies depend on the facts and applicable law; no outcome is guaranteed.
Recover what you lost
Lost pay, benefits, hours, and employment opportunities tied to the unlawful conduct.
Address the harm
Compensation for emotional distress may be available where the law provides for it.
Restore an opportunity
Some cases may involve reinstatement, promotion, corrected records, or another job-related remedy.
Create accountability
A resolution may include policy changes, training, or other corrective workplace action.
You do not need a perfect record, or even to know whether what happened was illegal, before asking what your options are.
Common concerns we hear from employees
I never reported it to HR.
You may still have legal options. Not reporting immediately does not automatically end your rights, although the specific facts can affect a claim.
I don't have screenshots or witnesses.
You do not need a complete evidence file before contacting us. We can help identify texts, emails, schedules, witnesses, and other evidence that may matter.
I still work there.
You can ask questions while still employed. Retaliating against a worker for opposing unlawful conduct or asserting protected rights may itself be unlawful.
It was a customer or client, not a coworker.
In some circumstances, an employer may be responsible for the conduct of supervisors, coworkers, customers, clients, or other third parties.
Brian Denlinger
Shareholder · Admitted in Colorado
Brian Denlinger is licensed in Colorado and Washington. He represents employees in discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wage-and-hour matters.
Read Brian's full bio →Real verdicts and recoveries in harassment and discrimination cases.
$23.5 million
150 women · Sexual harassment (multi-plaintiff)
$1 million
a group of women · Sexual harassment (multi-plaintiff)
$15 million
1 plaintiff · Gender pay & promotion discrimination, jury verdict (punitive damages under federal + Oregon law)
Jury verdict, subject to post-trial proceedings. Not a settlement or a collected recovery.
$1.3 million
19 Black construction workers · Racial harassment (hostile work environment)
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
What happens after you reach out?
You don't need documents, a lawyer-ready story, or even certainty that what happened was illegal.
- 01
Talk with us
A short initial conversation about what happened and when.
- 02
We assess the record
We identify possible claims, deadlines and evidence that may matter.
- 03
If we take the case
We handle the filing strategy, negotiations and litigation.
Deadlines can depend on where and how you file
Colorado and federal claims may follow different filing routes. These are general time limits, not sequential steps.
Generally, to file a discrimination or harassment charge with the Colorado Civil Rights Division.
CCRD, Complaint Process ↗Often, to file an EEOC charge when the claim is also covered by state or local anti-discrimination law.
EEOC, How to File a Charge ↗Generally, to file a lawsuit after receiving a CCRD right-to-sue notice.
CCRD, Complaint Process ↗Other claims and exceptions may have different or shorter deadlines. Contact counsel promptly so the applicable dates can be reviewed.
Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA)
C.R.S. § 24-34-401 et seq.
Primary source, C.R.S. § 24-34-401 et seq. ↗Share what happened in about two minutes. The firm will review your submission and contact you about possible options and next steps. There is no cost or obligation to request a review.
Deadlines and filing issues for workers in Colorado Springs.
- Civilian DoD employees have 45 DAYS to contact an agency EEO counselor, the most-missed deadline in El Paso County. Contractor employees follow the normal CADA/Title VII windows.
- The CCRD window is 300 days, extended from six months in 2022; older Colorado pages still say six months.
- After a right-to-sue notice, the 90-day suit window is short and unforgiving.
- There is no EEOC or CCRD office in Colorado Springs; waiting for a local walk-in office that does not exist wastes the clock. Both agencies take online filings.
- Colorado's POWR Act limits new NDAs covering discriminatory conduct; do not assume an agreement silences you before an attorney reads it.
Local filing and enforcement information for Colorado Springs workers.
The sources below are public agency actions and filing information, not this firm's cases. They illustrate how claims have been handled and do not predict the outcome of another matter.
- Home care, Colorado Springs area EEOC v. Joyvida, LLC d/b/a Amada Senior Care (D. Colo.): $250,000 consent decree (2021) resolving federal claims that a home-care agency serving the Colorado Springs, Denver and Pueblo areas failed to respond after caregivers reported harassment by clients and retaliated against those who complained, including cut hours and a firing. official source ↗
These are public government enforcement actions by the EEOC, not this firm's cases. Agency and state filing routes for Colorado Springs follow below.
Where do you file a sexual harassment claim in Colorado Springs?
Colorado Civil Rights Division
Denver (statewide)1560 Broadway, Suite 825
Denver, CO 80202
(303) 894-2997
The CCRD is part of the Department of Regulatory Agencies in Denver. An intake packet can be started online; the division serves the whole state from Denver.
File online →EEOC Denver Field Office
The Denver Field Office covers all of Colorado including El Paso County; there is no EEOC office in Colorado Springs. Most workers file online.
950 17th Street, Suite 300Denver, CO 80202
1-800-669-4000 EEOC Public Portal →
El Paso County District Court (4th Judicial District)
El Paso County Judicial Building270 S. Tejon Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
The filing path, step by step
- 1Document everything: messages, shift records, complaints, witnesses, and each job action that followed.
- 2Confirm your track first. Civilian federal (DoD) employees at Fort Carson, Peterson, Schriever, or the Academy have 45 days to contact their agency's EEO counselor. Private-sector and contractor employees follow CADA and Title VII.
- 3Private-sector workers: file with the Colorado Civil Rights Division within 300 days (intake starts online; the division serves the Springs from Denver), or with the EEOC Denver Field Office within 300 days. One properly cross-filed charge preserves both routes.
- 4After a right-to-sue notice, a CADA suit is generally filed within 90 days at the El Paso County Judicial Building, 270 S. Tejon Street.
- 5A Colorado-admitted attorney can confirm the track and the clock before either runs; the initial review has no cost or obligation.
Sexual-harassment information in other Colorado cities
- BoulderWorkplace sexual-harassment information
- DenverWorkplace sexual-harassment information
- Fort CollinsWorkplace sexual-harassment information
Asked by Colorado Springs workers.
I'm a civilian employee on a base in Colorado Springs. Do Colorado's deadlines apply to me?
Usually not. Civilian federal (DoD) employees follow the federal-sector track: 45 days to contact your agency's EEO counselor, a completely different system from CADA. Private defense-contractor employees on or near the same installations DO follow Colorado law and Title VII with the normal windows.
Where do I file if there's no EEOC office in Colorado Springs?
Online, for both agencies. The Colorado Civil Rights Division and the EEOC Denver Field Office both cover El Paso County from Denver and both prefer online intake, so nothing about being in the Springs slows a filing down.
Did Colorado's harassment standard really change?
Yes. The 2023 POWR Act removed the former 'severe or pervasive' formulation for Colorado claims and defined harassment in the statute. Not every offensive act is actionable, the facts still control, but conduct that once fell short of the old test may now support a state claim.
The harassment came from a client in a home I work in, not a coworker. Is my employer responsible?
It can be. When an employer knows or should know a client or customer is harassing its workers and fails to act, the employer can be liable. A Colorado Springs home-care agency paid $250,000 to resolve exactly that pattern in a federal enforcement case.
I complained and my schedule got worse. Is that retaliation?
Possibly. Adverse action after you oppose harassment, cut hours, worse shifts, discipline, exclusion, can violate CADA independently, even if the underlying harassment is never proven. Keep a timeline of the report and everything that changed after it.
How long do I have to act in Colorado Springs?
Private-sector: 300 days for the CCRD or EEOC, then generally 90 days to sue after a notice. Civilian federal employees: 45 days to contact an EEO counselor. The gap between those two tracks is exactly why confirming yours early matters.