C.R.S. § 17-26-143: Retaliation against whistleblower jail staff prohibited - private right of action - exemptions - procedures - definitions.

(1) (a) A local detention facility shall not discharge, discipline, demote, deny a promotion to, transfer or reassign, discriminate against, harass, suspend, create a hostile work environment for, subject to corrective action or reprimand, issue an employment rating that results in the loss of pay or adversely affects eligibility for promotion or for an assignment for, lay off, reduce work hours for, knowingly provide false information for the purpose of negatively affecting future employment opportunities for, or threaten any actions against or otherwise discriminate against a staff member in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because the staff member discloses information in good faith to the proper supervising authority that the staff member reasonably believes shows suspected, alleged, or witnessed sexual abuse or sex-based harassment in the local detention facility.

(b) Administrative procedures, including suspension during an investigation or departmental procedures used to distribute assignments or duties or meet the operational needs of the local detention facility, do not violate subsection (1)(a) of this section.

(c) A staff member who in good faith discloses information that the staff member reasonably believes shows suspected, alleged, or witnessed sexual abuse or sex-based harassment in the local detention facility is engaging in a protected activity.

(d) This subsection (1) does not prevent a local detention facility from complying with any disclosure requirements required by law or by court rule or procedure.

(2) A staff member aggrieved by a violation of subsection (1) of this section has a private right of action against the local detention facility that violated subsection (1) of this section after the staff member exhausts the internal administrative procedures pursuant to subsection (10) of this section.

(3) A staff member whose protected activity described pursuant to subsection (1) of this section was a contributing factor in the local detention facility's action described in subsection (1) of this section may be awarded all relief necessary to make the staff member whole, including, but not limited to:

(a) (I) Reinstatement, with the same seniority status that the staff member would have had but for the violation of subsection (1) of this section; and

(II) The amount of back pay with interest at an interest rate set by the secretary of state pursuant to section 13-21-101 (3) for the years back pay is awarded;

(b) Any other equitable relief the court deems appropriate;

(c) Compensatory damages for other pecuniary losses, emotional pain and suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and other nonpecuniary losses; and

(d) Reasonable attorney fees and costs.

(4) Any request for reinstatement or for an award of reasonable attorney fees must be made to the court after a judgment is entered in favor of the staff member. The parties are entitled to a hearing on the request prior to the court's determination.

(5) It is an affirmative defense to an action brought pursuant to this section if the local detention facility shows by a preponderance of the evidence that the local detention facility would have taken the action that forms the basis of the suit against the staff member based on a legitimate nonretaliatory basis.

(6) An action brought pursuant to this section is not subject to the "Colorado Governmental Immunity Act", article 10 of title 24.

(7) If a local detention facility asserts the affirmative defense created in subsection (5) of this section, the staff member must have the opportunity to establish in response, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the legitimate nonretaliatory basis was pretextual.

(8) An action brought pursuant to this section must be brought within two years after the date of the most recent adverse employment action described in subsection (1) of this section.

(9) (a) This section does not apply to a staff member who discloses information that the staff member knows to be false, who discloses information with disregard for the truth, or who discloses information without fully complying with subsection (10) of this section.

(b) A staff member's disclosure of the staff member's own act of negligence, unprofessional conduct, or violation of any local, state, or federal law is not an activity protected pursuant to this section and does not provide the staff member with immunity related to the activity subject to the disclosure.

(c) This section does not prevent a local detention facility from taking disciplinary action against a staff member for reasons other than those specified in subsection (1) of this section.

(10) (a) When making a good faith report or disclosure protected by this section, a staff member shall follow the internal reporting and internal administrative procedures of the local detention facility, to the extent the procedures exist and are provided to the employee in writing, and shall exhaust the procedures prior to initiating a private right of action pursuant to subsection (2) of this section. If the internal reporting procedure requires a staff member to report to the individual who allegedly committed the act described in subsection (1)(a) of this section, the procedure must provide an alternative reporting procedure. The limitations period described in subsection (8) of this section is tolled until the internal administrative process is complete.

(b) (I) A local detention facility shall complete the internal administrative procedure within one hundred eighty days after a report or disclosure.

(II) If a local detention facility does not adopt an internal administrative procedure or does not complete the internal administrative procedure within one hundred eighty days after a report or disclosure, this subsection (10) is deemed complied with and the staff member may file a private right of action in a court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to subsection (2) of this section. If the local detention facility's internal administrative procedure has not been completed when the staff member initiates a private right of action pursuant to subsection (2) of this section for reasons beyond the control of the local detention facility, including, but not limited to, the existence of an open criminal proceeding or an open critical incident response team investigation, the local detention facility may seek a stay of the private right of action pending resolution of the source of the delay.

(11) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) "Local detention facility" means a county jail as described in section 17-26-101 or municipal jail as described in section 31-15-401 (1)(j).

(b) "Proper supervising authority" means the person or department designated in the local detention facility to investigate allegations of internal misconduct. If the local detention facility does not have a policy designating a person or department to investigate allegations of misconduct, the proper supervising authority is the highest-ranking staff member in the local detention facility.

(c) "Staff member" means a person assigned to or employed at a local detention facility.