6/26/2008
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DENVER - Colorado Governor Bill Ritter has signed into law a controversial bill prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination in public accommodations, union membership, housing, and a number of other commercial areas. The new law—Senate Bill 200—went into effect on May 29, 2008, and expands upon the protections added by the 2007 amendments to Colorado’s civil rights law, which banned sexual orientation and religious discrimination in employment. The bill defines sexual orientation as “a person’s orientation toward heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, or transgender status or another person’s perception thereof.”
The new law prohibits all businesses deemed to be a public accommodation from refusing access to their facilities or services on account of an individual’s sexual orientation. Public accommodation is broadly defined in Senate Bill 200 as “any place of business engaged in any sales to the public and any place offering services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations to the public.”
Based on the 2007 amendments to the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, many Colorado employers have already considered modifications to their policies and practices to address issues such as restroom access for transgender employees. Based on the new law, Colorado businesses should revisit those policies and practices and consider whether the same protections should be extended to customers and guests.
In addition, the law makes it illegal in Colorado for labor organizations and unions to deny an individual membership because of his or her sexual orientation. State law previously prohibited discrimination in union membership based only on race, color, religion and sex. In addition to sexual orientation, Senate Bill 200 adds creed, marital status, disability, national origin and ancestry to the protected bases on which an individual cannot be denied membership in a union or labor organization. The new law makes it illegal to discriminate on any of these grounds with regard to union dues or initiation fees as well.
Senate Bill 200 also modifies Colorado public works law which provides that “Colorado labor” shall constitute at least 80 percent “of each type or class of labor in each of the several classifications of skilled and common labor employed” for publicly financed projects. The bill amends existing law to define “Colorado labor” as residents of the state at the time of employment without discrimination as to their sexual orientation, marital status, national origin and ancestry. The law previously only prohibited discrimination on account of race, color, creed, sex, age and religion in the definition of “Colorado labor.”
Colorado law now also prohibits schools from discriminating in employment decisions on account of sexual orientation, and the bill adds an entirely new category of protection, prohibiting county merit systems from discriminating in personnel administration on account of sexual orientation, race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, marital status, national origin and ancestry. Finally, the new law adds protections in a number of other areas, such as access to housing, participation in managed care plans and eligibility for jury duty.
Despite the controversy surrounding Senate Bill 200, it is not the first of its kind. Similar legislation already exists in several states, including California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin. Employers and businesses in Colorado should review their policies and practices and train their employees to comply with the new anti-discrimination mandates.