Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in Colorado

Re: harassment

Your supervisor's choice of language and "nose to nose" hollering are inappropriate. In most organizations that behavior would not be tolerated. Whether you have a claim for sexual harassment or not depends on a number of facts, and you have not presented enough information here to permit an attorney to properly evauate your claim.

As a general rule, to have a claim for this kind of lawsuit, you must first present it to the EEOC or to the state's human rights commission for evaluation and negotiation first. If the EEOC or state agency cannot rectify the situation, they can issue a "right to sue" letter. Often, however, by interceding on your behalf, the EEOC can make a problem of this nature go away.

On the other hand, the mere act of filing a complaint can and often does get a person fired. Of course, it gets you fired for wearing the wrong clothes, taking too long a break, or for some other reason completely unrelated to your complaint (at least on paper). Proving unlawful discharge is never particularly easy.

For this reason you may wish to consult with an employment lawyer at your earliest convenience. ATLA (www.atla.org) has a listing of attorneys who practice employment law and you can probably find an employment lawyer on this service if you search for one. Most employment lawyers will consult with you at no charge.

Our firm does not handle employment discrimination cases.