Mar 20, 2021 | Civil Rights Law, Discrimination, Employee Rights
If you ever feel that your rights have been violated by an employer or think you may need to consider legal action against a current or former employer, it may be important for you to obtain your personnel files. Those files may contain information that helps you prove discrimination, harassment, or other civil rights violations. It could also help you prove that the reasons an employer has provided for adverse employment action against you are untrue. Employers should not make it difficult for you to get that kind of information. While there is no federal law requiring employers to give employees access to personnel files, Colorado does have a law that affords you a right to obtain your personnel file.
In 2016, Colorado passed House Bill 16-1432 that requires private sector employers to allow current employees access to their personnel files once a year, and former employees one-time access after leaving employment. (If you are a public employee, you are already allowed access to your personnel files through the Colorado Open Records Act.)
C.R.S. § 8-2-129, provides, in part:
“Every employer shall, at least annually, upon the request of an employee, permit that employee to inspect and obtain a copy of any part of his or her own personnel file or files at the employer’s office and at a time convenient to both the employer and the employee. A former employee may make one inspection of his or her personnel file after termination of employment. An employer may restrict the employee’s or former employee’s access to his or her files to be only in the presence of a person responsible for managing personnel data on behalf of the employer or another employee designated by the employer. The employer may require the employee or former employee to pay the reasonable cost of duplication of documents.”
It should be noted that this law doesn’t apply to financial institutions chartered and supervised under state or federal law, such as banks, trust companies, savings institutions, and credit unions.
What exactly are personnel files?
The term personnel file is defined in this law as “the personnel records of an employee … that are used or have been used to determine the employee’s qualifications for employment, promotion, additional compensation, or employment termination or other disciplinary action.”
However, it does not include all records. Pursuant to the law, your employer is not required to give you access to the following documents:
- Documents required by state or federal law to be maintained in a separate file (such as medical or FLMA documents)
- Confidential reports from the employee’s previous employer
- Documents pertaining to an active criminal investigation
- Documents pertaining to an active disciplinary investigation
- Documents pertaining to an active investigation by a regulatory agency
- Documents identifying a person who made a confidential accusation (as determined by the employer) against the employee requesting the personnel files.
Is my employer required to create or keep these files?
Not necessarily. The new law does not require employers to create or maintain records that they do not already keep in the course of running their business. Some employers may not do performance reviews or keep anything but basic contact and tax information on their employees, as a matter of practice. This law does not require them to change those practices. The statute does not do any of the following:
-
Create a private cause of action, (meaning it does not create a new way for you to sue)
-
Require employers to create, maintain, or retain personnel files of employees or former employees
- Create any new record retention requirements.
Since this particular law does not require employers to retain any personnel files, it is imperative that you request them as soon as possible. While most companies already have their own policies in place regarding the retention of records (and institutions may be penalized for not retaining records once they are put on notice that litigation is imminent), it is often necessary to review your personnel records to know whether you have a good case or whether litigation is in your best interest. Either way, it is a good practice to review your personnel files after leaving a job.
If you are a current employee — regardless of whether you have any issues at work or not — it’s good practice to review your performance reviews and similar files (promotions, transfers, demotions, etc.). If you are ever written up or have an incident with another employee (unless confidential), request copies of those documents as well. Finally, if your employer has done something to make you think your rights have been violated, let them know — preferably in writing (so that there is a record of your concern). It would be a violation of your rights for them to retaliate against you for this. This could trigger the responsibility for your employer to retain all related records (not just personnel records).
How do I get access to my personnel files?
You ask for them. However, while an employer is required to give you access upon request, you cannot expect an employer to drop everything and provide you this kind of information, at any time, unannounced. An employer may take a reasonable amount of time to respond to a request. The best thing to do is contact them by email so you have a record of all communication. If the employer has a human resources department, contact them first. If there is no HR department, then email your supervisor and/or a person whom you believe has control over personnel files. Many employers have a specific form to fill out for access to your files. Once they send the form to you, return it to them by email/fax (if possible) so that you again have a record of it. If you fill it out on a website, see if there is an option to print the form so you have a record of submitting it.
It is always a good practice to create a paper trail if anything you do might be questioned or otherwise might become evidence in a lawsuit. If you are involved in any kind of dispute with your employer, keep a record of everything. Sometimes you must be the one to document issues, record conversations, or otherwise gather evidence necessary for an attorney to advocate for you later.
Additional details set forth by this law, include:
- Current employees can request copies of personnel files at least annually and an ex-employee can request access to their files once after termination of employment
- The inspection and copying shall occur at the employer’s office.
- The inspection must be at a time that is convenient to both the employee and employer.
- The employer can require the inspection to occur in the presence of another person designated by the employer.
- The employer may require the employee to pay the reasonable costs of duplication of documents.
If the employer refuses to give you access to your personnel files, file a complaint with the Colorado Department of Labor.
What if I disagree with what’s in my personnel files?
If you disagree with something in a performance review or an action taken by your employer, such a disciplinary action, you have the right to submit a response to be included in your personnel file. This does not imply any agreement on their part, but you and the employer may, obviously, see things differently. An employer should keep this as part of the records related to issue that prompted your response. Again, it is always a good idea to put everything in writing so that there’s a record of it
Finding the best civil rights attorney when you have a dispute with an employer
If you have been the victim of discrimination, retaliation, or harassment from an employer, you have rights. But it is important to act quickly because certain legal or regulatory deadlines may apply and many claims have a statute of limitations. Call the Civil Rights Litigation Group at 720-515-6165, or use our online contact form, to schedule your free consultation with us today. We’ll aggressively fight for you in court and make sure your rights are protected and you are treated fairly.
Nov 28, 2020 | Civil Rights Law, Constitutional Rights, Police Misconduct
When people think about police misconduct, the first thing that comes to mind is usually police brutality — and that’s understandable considering the vast amount of press coverage from cases like George Floyd this year. But there are many other ways that the police can and have engaged in illegal conduct and have violated people’s civil rights. It is important to understand what they can and can’t do so that you can protect yourself.
Witness tampering and police misconduct
There have been many examples of the police getting caught in bad situations and then attempting to coerce witnesses to change how the evidence looks – for the police and the people police arrest. In Maui in 2015, Anthony Maldonado was accused of stealing $1800 from a person he had stopped. That right there is a crime, but after the victim reported it, Maldonado and several other officers tried to bribe the person to withdraw the complaint. Maldonado eventually pled guilty to witness tampering.
It is absolutely illegal for an officer to attempt use their power or authority as a police officer to attempt to get a witness to change their true testimony to something false or to unduly influence a complaining party to withdraw a complaint. But it happens all the time as officers have power and many people fall victim to their threats.
This type of misconduct can lead to criminal sanctions and even civil rights lawsuits for damages, if the conduct violates a persons’ constitutional rights.
Planting or fabricating evidence
If a case isn’t looking the way an officer thinks it should, they may decide to plant, fabricate, remove, or lie about evidence. One such example involves Richard Pinheiro, an officer in the Baltimore Police Department. His body camera actually caught him tampering with evidence at a crime scene. Unfortunately, fabricating evidence is a misdemeanor in Maryland so even though he was convicted, he is still on the job. Incidents like this also highlight the issue of bad cops being allowed to remain on the job.
Another example involved Michael Slager, an officer in North Charleston who shot and killed Walter Scott and then planted a taser near his body to back up his story that Scott was armed. Slager eventually received a 20-year sentence after a man came forward with a cellphone recording of the incident. Had a passerby not filmed the encounter, Slager likely would have gotten away with his crimes. This is one more example of why you should always record any police encounters you may witness.
This type of misconduct can lead to criminal sanctions if it is revealed, and possibly civil rights lawsuits for damages if the conduct violates a persons’ constitutional rights – such as when the lies/fabrications cause a person to be improperly jailed and/or prosecuted for a crime they didn’t commit.
When does police misconduct violate my civil rights?
While the behaviors mentioned above are definitely illegal, they do not always involve civil rights violations. For example, the most common civil rights violation applicable to manipulating or fabricating evidence is wrongful prosecution. However, in order to make that type of civil rights claim, there are several things you must be able to prove. For example, you must be able to show that the officer caused or continued a criminal prosecution where there was no probable cause to believe that a crime had been committed in the first place. You must also show that the officer created, planted, or lied about evidence that the prosecution relied on to prosecute the case. The criminal case against you must legitimately be terminated in your favor. You also have to be able to prove that the officer did all of this with malice and that it caused some sort of injury.
Reporting this type of misconduct so that appropriate criminal sanctions can be taken against officers is often the first step to getting bad officers removed from the police force. Filing civil rights lawsuits in appropriate circumstances is key to obtaining compensation when your rights have been violated. If you are faced with such circumstances, you want a lawyer that is 100% dedicated to understanding and helping you navigate these types of complexities.
We are here to help with protecting your civil rights
If you have experienced problems with your civil rights being violated by the police, please give us a call. We work diligently to protect civil rights. For a free, no-obligation consultation with the Civil Rights Litigation Group, contact our Denver CO law firm today at (720) 515-6165 or use our online contact form.
Oct 20, 2020 | Civil Rights Law, Constitutional Rights, Discrimination, Uncategorized
When Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg passed away last month, she left an impressive legal legacy in her fight for civil rights. Throughout her career — both as an attorney and a judge — she fought everyone to have equal protection under the law.
Civil rights and the Supreme court
Before becoming a member of the Supreme Court, she won five cases before them based on the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment — specifically the section that guarantees all citizens of the U.S “equal protection of the laws.” Early in her career, Ginsberg worked with the ACLU and led their campaign for gender equality, arguing more than 300 gender discrimination cases. Before her, the amendment was primarily used to argue for racial equality, but she successfully used it to fight for gender equality. She carefully chose cases that would highlight the inequality in how men and women were treated. She found success by taking on cases where men were the ones suffering discrimination.
In 1971, she argued in Reed v. Reed that an Idaho law stating that “males must be preferred to females” when determining the administrator of an estate was a direct violation of the 14th Amendment. The reasoning was that men were better at math. The Supreme Court unanimously agreed that the law was wrong.
In 1973, she won Frontiero v. Richardson, where her client was the husband of a female Air Force officer who was denied spousal death benefits because women were not considered the primary economic providers for their families.
Again, in 1975, in Weinberger v. Weisenfeld, she sued for a male client who had been denied Social Security survivor benefits because the agency assumed that men wouldn’t need them because they earned more money that their wives ever did. By arguing that gender discrimination hurts men as well as women, she was able to use the 14th Amendment to gain more equal rights for women. Her wins also discouraged state legislatures from writing any new laws that drew distinctions based on gender.
Using the 14th Amendment for other types of civil rights cases
After Ginsberg used the 14th Amendment to argue non-race-based discrimination cases, it opened the doors for other lawyers to use it civil rights cases for the LGBTQ community. In 1996, it was used in Romer v. Evans to overturn Colorado’s infamous Amendment 2 that prohibited LGBTQ citizens from claiming discrimination.
In 2015, it was used in the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges case that required all states to recognize same-sex marriages that were performed in other states.
Fighting for civil rights on the Supreme Court
Once she was appointed to the Supreme Court, Ginsberg continued her fight for gender equality and civil rights. In United States v. Virginia, she wrote the majority opinion that struck down the admissions policy at the Virginia Military Institute. Once again using the 14th Amendment, she argued that a state-run institution could not use gender as a basis for denying women the opportunity to attend the school.
In addition to gender equality cases, she also wrote opinions about prisoner rights. In Cutter v. Wilkinson, she argued in favor of prisoners’ religious rights. And before she was on the Supreme Court, she would have all her law clerks visit prisons so they better understood what was at stake in the cases they assisted her with.
While not all of her opinions, cases and writings are considered perfectly in line with promoting civil rights, the sum of her life’s work absolutely shows the impact she had in arguing that the law should treat everyone equally. Her actions both as an attorney and a judge will be felt for generations to come.
Additional posts about civil rights and discrimination
Sexist language and subtle discrimination
Dealing with disability discrimination in the workplace
Is there such a thing as pregnancy discrimination in the workplace?
Discrimination in Denver
Your Denver civil rights attorney
If you believe your civil rights have been violated, whether through police misconduct or discrimination, our civil rights attorneys can help you. Call the Civil Rights Litigation Group at 720-515-6165 or use our online contact form. Schedule your free consultation with a Denver discrimination attorney today.
Call us at 720-515-6165
Apr 25, 2020 | Coronavirus, Employee Rights
With all of the new laws and requirements coming about because of the coronavirus, many people have questions regarding paid time off and their rights to it. What happens if you get sick and your employer won’t give you time off to either recover or quarantine? What happens if a family member gets sick and you need to care for them?
State laws regarding paid time off
As of March, the Colorado Division of Labor enacted the Colorado Health Emergency Leave with Pay Rules (Colorado HELP) to give employees some help, especially with paid time off. Because of these new regulations, companies are now required to provide up to four days of paid medical leave for their employees. This time can be used to self-isolate if you are exhibiting symptoms of Covid-19. The new regulations cover employees in the following industries: leisure and hospitality, retail stores that sell groceries, food and beverage manufacturing, food services, childcare, education (including transportation, food service, and related work), home health care, nursing homes, and community living facilities.
New federal laws
Two new acts passed by Congress — the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act —also give you rights with regards to paid time off. These new laws require all states, cities, and towns, along with private companies with less than 500 employees, to provide up to 80 hours of paid leave to employees if they are told to self-quarantine or if they have symptoms and are waiting for test results. If this is the case, you should receive your regular rate of pay for those 80 hours. You can also use the time to care for a child if their school or daycare has been closed due to Covid-19 or to care for a family member who is either sick or needs to self-isolate. In this case, the law requires your employer to pay you two-thirds of your regular pay during your time off. The law also prevents your employer from requiring you to use all of your other paid time off, like vacation or personal time, if you get sick or need to care for someone who is.
Paid time off if you need to care for a family member
Sometimes, it’s not you that’s sick but an immediate family member like a spouse or child. If you have worked a year or more, full-time,for a company with more than 50 employees, you can take advantage of the Family Medical Leave Act, or FMLA. This act requires that companies give you up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off to care for a family member and then let you return to your job in the same or an equivalent position. They also have to let you keep your health insurance.
Can I be fired for getting sick?
The FMLA and other federal laws protect employees from being fired for a serious health condition. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) also prohibits companies from discriminating against employees with a disability. In some cases, you could be considered disabled if you have an underlying health condition, such as asthma or diabetes, that could be exacerbated by the Covid-19.
We are here to help with paid time off and other employment issues
If you have experienced problems with your employer not giving you the required paid time off during this epidemic or any other health crisis, please give us a call. We work diligently to protect employee rights. The Civil Rights Litigation Group is dedicated to protecting the rights of employees during the coronavirus outbreak. If you are having issues securing paid time off, we can pursue a lawsuit against your employers, and will fight to get you compensation for your damages. For a free, no-obligation consultation with the Civil Rights Litigation Group, call our Denver CO law firm today at (720) 515-6165 or use our online contact form.
Mar 26, 2020 | Discrimination, Employee Rights
The coronavirus pandemic our country is going through right now is unprecedented – people are sick, people are dying, and everyone is scared. Different states are battling the coronavirus in different ways as businesses struggle to survive. Here in Denver, as of March 24, the mayor has declared a state of local disaster, pursuant to C.R.S. § 24-33.5-701, et seq., and ordered all individuals to STAY AT HOME and shelter in place. This means that all non-essential businesses should close, unless they can operate with employees from home and/or with appropriate “social distancing.” In particular:
“All businesses with a facility in Denver, except Essential Businesses as defined below in Section 6, are required to cease all activities at facilities located within Denver, except Minimum Basic Operations, as defined in Section 6. For clarity, businesses may also continue operations consisting exclusively of employees or contractors performing activities at their own residences (e.g., working from home). All Essential Businesses are asked to remain open. To the greatest extent feasible, Essential Businesses shall comply with Social Distancing Requirements as defined in Section 6, below, including by maintaining six-foot social distancing for both employees and members of the public, including, but not limited to, when any customers are standing in line.”
March 22 CDPHE Order.[1]
If your business is one of those that will or can remain open, you may have some questions about your rights. First of all, you should understand that circumstances regarding the pandemic are changing as information becomes available and that this is new to everyone. Congress is expected to pass a bill to help both businesses and their employees, but new laws are likely to come in to effect.
Hopefully, you have a caring employer who is taking all the necessary precautions to keep their employees safe and to help you endure through this trying time. However, you may still have some questions and concerns about your rights and safety during this time.
Can my employer require me go to work during the coronavirus outbreak?
Unless you have a valid disability that qualifies under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), your employer can require you to come in to work. If you have health concerns, the best thing you can do is provide notice by talking to them and communicating regarding your concerns and your particular condition. However, if your business is one that was mandated to close and your employer remains open, and then fires you because you refuse to go to work, you may have a case for wrongful termination in violation of public policy. Before doing anything, you should speak to your employer and communicate that you have good cause not to work because of a medical vulnerability you have and that you fear for your safety. If you make a good faith effort to resolve the situation and your employer still fires you, you can apply for unemployment and look into a wrongful termination lawsuit.
Can my employer require me to work if I need to care for a sick family member?
The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)[2] requires employers to provide eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of unpaid leave per year to care for yourself or family members, with continued health benefits. Employers must also allow employees to return to the same job (or one that is equivalent). See the Department of Labor website for all the eligibility requirements and details.
Is my employer required to provide safety equipment against the coronavirus?
There are OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) laws that protect you. The general duty clause from OSHA requires your employer to provide “a place of employment which (is) free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.” Of course, your employer can’t eliminate the coronavirus from your workplace but it should make that environment as safe as reasonably possible. A lot of this will come down to them putting forth a “good faith effort” because safety equipment is in short supply at the moment. So, while a hospital is typically required to provide doctors and nurses with the masks, gowns, and even hazmat suits, a grocery store can get away with providing gloves and hand sanitizer if that is all they are able to get. However, in most cases, they shouldn’t prevent you from using additional safety equipment that you provide so long as it doesn’t interfere with your job.
Can I sue my employer if they require me to work and I get sick?
In most cases, probably not. Simply put, it is very difficult to prove how or where someone caught the coronavirus because, as of now, the virus hasn’t mutated very much. What that means is that most people who are sick in your area will have a very similar strain of the virus, so it’s next to impossible to trace. Remember, the burden of proof is on you to show that you not only caught the virus at work but that it was your employer’s fault.
However, if your employer knowingly puts you in a dangerous situation without required protection, or deliberately didn’t inform employees that they had been exposed, then you may have some recourse. Again, this entire situation is something the country and the courts haven’t dealt with much so there is a lot grey area to navigate. And the burden of proof will be still be on you.
I am Asian, Latino, African American, Caucasian, or a member of another race and my employer is treating me differently
Disparate treatment because of your race continues to be prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and is absolutely illegal. If you can prove that your employer has singled you out and treated you differently from the other employees — such as cutting your hours or making you wear a mask when no one else is required to — because of your race you may have a case for discrimination.
If I test positive for the coronavirus, can my employer tell the other employees?
No, your employer is required to maintain your privacy regarding any medical information. However, they can (and should) notify other employees that they may have been exposed to the coronavirus, or that there may otherwise be a health hazard, without disclosing your name.[3]
[1] See https://www.denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en/mayors-office/newsroom/2020/city-s-covid-19-response-update-and-stay-at-home-order.html
[2] The FMLA applies to all public agencies, including local, State, and Federal employers, and local education agencies (schools); and private sector employers who employ 50 or more employees for at least 20 workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year – including joint employers and successors of covered employers. If you are working for business with fewer than 50 employees, they are not required to offer FMLA benefits.
[3] For further legal advice on this issue, consult an attorney knowledgeable in federal and/or state privacy matters. Civil rights attorneys, such as the author of this article, are not experts in privacy law.
