Respondent Rights Discrimination Complaints

With regard to employment, housing, public accommodations, and advertising discrimination complaints investigated by the civil rights division in the department of regulatory agencies and, in some cases, heard or pursued by the Colorado civil rights commission, the bill specifies that:

• The respondent has a right to request representation by a public defender, regardless of indigent status or the lack of an arrest for or charge of a crime, at any point in the administrative process when the respondent is requested or required to participate;
• The respondent may request to move the matter to a court of competent jurisdiction if the respondent asserts that the respondent engaged in the alleged discriminatory conduct on the basis of first amendment rights; and
• If the respondent obtains a favorable decision after all appeals are exhausted or if the United States supreme court rules in favor of the respondent, the commission must pay the respondent's attorney fees and costs and lost business income, retroactive to appeals or actions for judicial review filed on or after December 1, 2013.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)