Secure Our Jobs, Protect Colorado Workers!

Civil rights protection is more than the morally right thing to do: it's the right thing for our economy, and practical in every workplace.

It's already against the law for employers to discriminate against employees based on race, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, or domestic violence. However, holes in the existing Colorado law prevent justice for employees when their rights are violated. This results in situations where discrimination exists, but the law is unenforceable.

Legislation has been introduced to update our law as 41 other states have done, and fill the holes in workplace discrimination law to protect workers in all businesses. Senate Bill 72, sponsored by Senator Morgan Carroll and Rep. Claire Levy, will ensure that more employees in Colorado are protected by the same standards that federal law already guarantees for most employees. It would also help ensure that all of Colorado's existing discrimination protections are enforceable.

Corporate lobbyists are sabotaging attempts to make these sensible changes that have already been adopted in most of the rest of the nation. They want to keep the status quo, and create barriers to accountability for civil rights in the workplace. We need you to speak out right now, and tell legislators that we can't afford to lose jobs to discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Give employees the opportunity to seek justice.

Click here to sign the petition: urge your state representative and senator to support the The Job Protection and Civil Rights Enforcement Act of 2011.

Click here to send an email to your State Senator - asking for their support.

9to5 Colorado Receives 2009 NEWSED Civil Rights Award

The Colorado Chapter of 9to5, National Association of Working Women was honored November 11 when the 2009 NEWSED Civil Rights Awards were presented during a gala ceremony in the Seawell Grand Ballroom at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

In its 18th year, the NEWSED Civil Rights Award recognized individuals and organizations for making a “significant difference through activism, sacrifice and dedication to an ever-changing Civil Rights movement.” The NEWSED Board of Directors and its Honorary Committee, along with Honorary Co-Chairs Governor Bill Ritter, Jr., Mayor John Hickenlooper and former Mayor Wellington E. Webb, cited 9to5’s work in impacting the issues women face in the workplace, including pay inequity, sexual harassment and gender discrimination.

“We were humbled to be among such a stellar group of award recipients,” said 9to5 Colorado Board Co-Chair LaTerrell Bradford. “And, we were humbled that our work in strengthening the ability of low-wage women to win economic justice was honored in this way. If anything, this encourages us to accelerate our fight to win rights, raises and respect for women in the workplace.”

The Civil Rights Award for 9to5 Colorado was presented by Nita Gonzales, Director of Escuela Tlatelolco in Denver, the daughter of the legendary Chicano leader Corky Gonzales. LaTerrell Bradford eloquently accepted the award on behalf of 9to5 Colorado. In her acceptance remarks, she cited 9to5 Colorado's work in leading the coalition that defeated Amendment 46, the anti-equal opportunity initiative, the first time that such an initiative had ever been defeated in any state. She talked about other important chapter victories in campaigns involving reproductive rights, the minimum wage, TANF and the chapter's work in advocating for the establishment of the Governor’s Pay Equity Commission.

9to5 Colorado joined a prestigious lineup of fellow Civil Rights Award recipients, including New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, community activist Margaret Atencio, performing artist Cleo Parker Robinson, the labor advocacy group Jobs with Justice, and Gete Mekonnen, co-founder of the Northeast Denver Housing Center, Inc.

Others attending the ceremony included Beth Wolter, Colorado Chapter Board Member; Lorena Garcia, Colorado Chapter Director; Linda Meric, National Director; U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and Elbra Wedgeworth, former Denver City Councilperson and president of the 2008 Democratic National Convention Host Committee.

Legal Momentum Statement on Supreme Court Decision on Ricci

Decision Will Undermine Critical Role of Nation's Civil Rights Laws in Achieving Equality in the Workplace

WASHINGTON, D.C. and NEW YORK (June 29, 2009) -- Legal Momentum, the nation's oldest legal advocacy organization dedicated to advancing women's rights, is deeply concerned by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling today in Ricci v. DeStefano, a decision that will undermine the critical role of the country’s civil rights laws in the historic struggle of women and minorities to achieve equality in the workplace. The Court created a new, more stringent standard for employment discrimination claims in striking down the New Haven Fire Department’s attempt to ensure that its promotional exam did not discriminate against Black and Latino candidates. We believe that the standard articulated by the Court reflects a flawed interpretation of Title VII and is contrary to congressional intent.

Irasema Garza, President of Legal Momentum, stated: “Employment discrimination continues to be a major problem. To this day, women and minorities remain egregiously under-represented in many employment sectors. Astoundingly, the Court’s decision acknowledges this fact and yet requires employers to avoid policies and practices that would help to remedy this discrimination. This decision will make it far more difficult for women and minorities to get good jobs in fields that continue to exclude them, such as firefighting, and for employers to eliminate barriers that have proved discriminatory in their effect.”

Further, as a supporter of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court, Legal Momentum strongly disagrees with those who might use the Court's decision to imply that Judge Sotomayor and her colleagues in the Second Circuit erred in their ruling below. The Second Circuit panel of which Judge Sotomayor was a part acted with appropriate restraint in applying the precedent as it existed at that time. The matter before the Supreme Court involved issues of first impression and the Second Circuit’s opinion was consistent with the views of four Justices on the Supreme Court as well as with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Justice.

Legal Momentum joined in an amicus brief submitted to the Supreme Court in the Ricci case. The brief described how the disparate impact theory under Title VII has been instrumental in women’s entering “non-traditional” fields like firefighting.