Compliance Stuff

In the 2025 legislative session, Colorado lawmakers enacted two laws that amend the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) in distinct and material ways. The first,  HB25-1312 , clarifies CADA’s prohibition on gender expression discrimination in the workplace, while the second amendment,  HB25-1239 , expands the remedies available to individuals with disabilities who experience discrimination in places of public accommodation. The Kelly Loving Act (HB25-1312) On May 16, 2025, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed into law HB25-1312, also referred to as the Kelly Loving Act. Although CADA already prohibits discrimination based on an employee’s gender expression, the newly enacted law now makes clear that gender expression includes both an employee’s “Chosen Name” and “How the Individual Chooses to be Addressed.”  The law defines “Chosen Name” as “a name that an individual requests to be known as in connection to the individual’s disability, race, creed, color, religion, se...

  Takeaway:   HR professionals must enforce company policies consistently while ensuring they align with federal laws, such as the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), and state laws, such as the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA). Employees who record conversations may, in some instances, be engaging in protected activity under the NLRA. An employer did not retaliate against an employee for making reasonable requests for lactation accommodations when the employee was fired after violating the employer’s no-recording policy, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. In the spring of 2019, the plaintiff took l eave under the Family and Medical Leave Act for the birth of her child. Upon her return to work in July 2019, she requested accommodations to pump breast milk while at work. Although she was initially permitted to use a company wellness room to pump breast milk on company time, this room became unavailable due to construction. The employer provided the plain...