Colorado lawmakers introduce bill to protect employees from discrimination based on COVID-19 vaccination status
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Two state representatives, including one from El Paso County, are backing a bill that would prohibit "adverse action" by employers against employees or applicants based on whether they've been vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus.
House Bill 22-1100 was introduced Jan. 20 in the Health and Insurance Committee by two Republican lawmakers -- Shane Sandridge, of El Paso County, and Kim Ransom, of Douglas County.
Under the proposed legislation, employees and applicants who believe they're victims of such discrimination can sue employers, and even receive monetary damages if employers are found to have acted "with malice or wanton or willful misconduct," or have repeatedly discriminated against those plaintiffs.
Ransom introduced a similar bill last year that failed in committee.
"I think it has a better chance of passing this time because we have a different set of circumstances now," she said. We know more about the virus and that some people have a natural immunity to it. Some people have legitimate reasons for not taking the vaccine. We also have a workforce shortage. We have people who are not working, who could be and should be. This is just one tool to help people who would like to be working and can't be."
The bill also emphasizes that COVID vaccines are not mandatory, cannot be required by the state and that employers -- including government agencies, private businesses and health insurers -- can't discriminate against anyone based on their vaccination status.
Furthermore, the right to sue for relief and damages would be given not just to employees or applicants, but to anyone else who believes to be a discrimination victim.
"That could be someone in a facility who doesn't allow people in unless they're vaccinated," said Jeremy Loew, a civil and defense attorney in Colorado Springs. "I don't see this bill passing in the Democratic majority in Denver. We get calls all the time from people who ask if they have a case, and I tell them that they don't because employers don't have to reveal why they fired or didn't hire someone."
The Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce is following the progress of the bill and isn't saying yet whether it's good or bad for business.
"Generally, we prefer bills that have some sort of intermediary step, where there's a mediation process of some kind, before an employee can take an employer to court, said Chamber spokeswoman Rachel Beck. "If there isn't, that can get very costly for everyone involved."
