Were you sexually harassed at work in Fort Collins?
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
- Behind the bar in Old Town, the owner's 'jokes' about my body are constant, and complaining to him would mean losing my shifts. The law calls it → hostile work environment based on sex
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.
Fort Collins workers are protected by the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, and under the 2023 POWR Act, conduct no longer needs to meet the former 'severe or pervasive' test to qualify as harassment under Colorado law. The state filing window is 300 days, CADA covers employers of all sizes, and university and state employees have additional internal routes with their own, often shorter, deadlines. Whether particular conduct qualifies depends on the facts, and a private review can tell you where you stand.
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 Fort Collins.
- The CCRD window is 300 days, extended from six months in 2022; older Colorado guidance still circulating says six months.
- State-employee grievance deadlines at CSU and state agencies are much shorter than 300 days and run separately from a CCRD charge.
- After a right-to-sue notice, the 90-day suit window is short and unforgiving.
- There is no local EEOC or CCRD office in Fort Collins; both agencies take online filings, and waiting for a local office wastes the clock.
- Retaliation after a report has its own 300-day clock from each retaliatory act.
Local filing and enforcement information for Fort Collins 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.
- Bars & nightlife, northern Colorado EEOC v. 'Murica, LLC d/b/a Starlite Station (D. Colo.): $100,000 consent decree (2025) resolving federal claims that the Greeley bar and dance hall's owner sexually harassed employees and that workers who complained faced retaliation, with a five-year decree requiring training and policy review. official source ↗
These are public government enforcement actions by the EEOC, not this firm's cases. Agency and state filing routes for Fort Collins follow below.
Where do you file a sexual harassment claim in Fort Collins?
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 Larimer County; there is no EEOC office in Fort Collins. Most workers file online.
950 17th Street, Suite 300Denver, CO 80202
1-800-669-4000 EEOC Public Portal →
Larimer County District Court (8th Judicial District)
Larimer County Justice Center201 LaPorte Avenue, Suite 100
Fort Collins, CO 80521
The filing path, step by step
- 1Document everything: messages, schedules, complaints, witnesses, and each job action that followed.
- 2File with the Colorado Civil Rights Division within 300 days (intake starts online; the division serves Larimer County from Denver), or with the EEOC Denver Field Office within 300 days. One properly cross-filed charge preserves both routes.
- 3CSU and other state employees: internal grievance and State Personnel Board routes have their own short deadlines that run alongside CADA, using one does not automatically preserve the other.
- 4After a right-to-sue notice, a CADA suit is generally filed within 90 days at the Larimer County Justice Center, 201 LaPorte Avenue.
- 5A Colorado-admitted attorney can confirm which routes apply before any window closes; the initial review has no cost or obligation.
Sexual-harassment information in other Colorado cities
- BoulderWorkplace sexual-harassment information
- Colorado SpringsWorkplace sexual-harassment information
- DenverWorkplace sexual-harassment information
Asked by Fort Collins workers.
I work at CSU. Do the normal Colorado deadlines apply to me?
Partly. State employees are covered by CADA, but university and State Personnel Board procedures add internal deadlines that are typically much shorter, and pursuing one route does not automatically preserve the other. Getting the full deadline map early matters more for university workers than almost anyone else.
Did Colorado's harassment standard change?
Yes. The 2023 POWR Act removed the former 'severe or pervasive' formulation for Colorado claims and defined harassment in the statute. The facts still control, not every offensive act is actionable, but conduct that once fell short of the old test may now support a state claim.
The harassment happens on late brewery and bar shifts with no manager around. How would I ever prove it?
Contemporaneous records carry these cases: texts, screenshots, shift schedules showing who was present, and coworkers who saw or heard it. The absence of a manager does not excuse the employer, once it knows or should know, it must act.
I reported a manager and my shifts dried up. Is that its own violation?
Possibly. Retaliation, cut hours, worse shifts, exclusion, discipline, after opposing harassment is independently unlawful under CADA, even if the underlying harassment claim is never proven. A nearby Greeley employer paid $100,000 in a federal case involving exactly that pattern.
Where would my case actually be filed?
State-law claims are filed in the 8th Judicial District at the Larimer County Justice Center, 201 LaPorte Avenue, after the CCRD process concludes. Federal claims go to the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado in Denver.
How long do I have to act in Fort Collins?
Generally 300 days for the CCRD or EEOC, then 90 days after a right-to-sue notice, with shorter internal deadlines if you are a state or university employee. Talking to an attorney before the shortest clock runs is the safe order of operations.