Understanding Colorado’s PHEW Act: a Primer on the State’s Public Health and Safety Whistleblowing Law

Understanding Colorado’s PHEW Act: a Primer on the State’s Public Health and Safety Whistleblowing Law In late 2019, Linda Rodriguez began working at Amazon’s warehouse in Thornton, Colorado. Just a few months into her new job, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, bringing with it a host of challenges she never anticipated. Rodriguez quickly observed what she described as troubling shortcomings in the company’s treatment of its workers during the pandemic. She noticed that warehouse supervisors were failing to communicate critical health and safety information to Spanish-speaking employees, leaving a significant segment of the workforce in the dark about evolving pandemic protocols and expectations. Disturbed by what she saw, Rodriguez began asking questions and raising concerns. But what she believed was a good-faith effort to [...]

By |2025-10-08T10:17:27-06:00October 8, 2025|Civil Rights, Citizens Rights|0 Comments

Killmer Lane obtains historic $3.2 million settlement for the family of Jeffrey Melvin against the City of Colorado Springs.

Killmer Lane obtains historic $3.2 million settlement for the family of Jeffrey Melvin against the City of Colorado Springs. The City of Colorado Springs has agreed to pay $3.2 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Killmer Lane on behalf of the family of Jeffrey Melvin. This marks the largest police misconduct settlement in the city's history, and comes after a seven year battle for justice for Mr. Melvin's death at the hands of Colorado Springs police. On April 26, 2018, Colorado Springs Police Department (“CSPD”) Officers Daniel Patterson and Joshua Archer killed Jeffrey Melvin, a 27-year-old Black man. The officers met Mr. Melvin when they were responding to a reported disturbance at an apartment, unrelated to Mr. Melvin; he was merely a [...]

By |2025-07-31T16:12:57-06:00July 31, 2025|Civil Rights, Killmer Lane, News|0 Comments

When can I sue my employer for discrimination?

When can I sue my employer for discrimination? Employers exert a significant amount of control over our daily lives. In exchange for pay, they control when we show up for work, what we do when we get there, and even what our healthcare looks like. In most jobs, employers can terminate us for no reason or any reason – unless it’s an illegal reason. Federal and Colorado state law put protections in place to counteract that power imbalance, giving workers options to seek legal remedies to unlawful workplace discrimination and other intolerable conditions. You are a victim of illegal discrimination if your employer takes adverse action, makes your work environment unmanageable, or otherwise treats you differently and worse based on a protected characteristic, [...]

By |2025-05-28T17:18:30-06:00May 23, 2025|Civil Rights, Citizens Rights|0 Comments

Poudre School District to pay $16.2 million for child abuse.

LAWSUIT: Poudre School District pays $16.2 million to settle lawsuit for child abuse. Poudre School District will pay a total of $16,200,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the parents of ten children who suffered horrific abuse at the hands of former employee Tyler Zanella, a paraprofessional who was hired as a bus attendant to assist autistic, mostly non-verbal,  elementary school children. Killmer Lane client, the Montgomery family, were among the families included in the settlement. "My family will never be the same. I don't remember what life was like before Ash was assaulted," Daisy Montgomery said, "They showed us four videos of the 37 that they ended up finding in a one month period of our son being brutally assaulted." Finally, after [...]

By |2025-05-23T12:16:18-06:00May 23, 2025|Civil Rights, Killmer Lane, News|0 Comments
  • A picture of Jim Purdy as a young adult, sitting in a forest in a flannel shirt and a well-developed mustache.

Jim Purdy, 76, Dies of Injuries After 70+ Violent Falls in Jefferson County Jail

LAWSUIT: Jim Purdy, 76, Dies After Dozens of Violent Falls in Jefferson County Jail Killmer Lane, LLP is proud to represent the family of Jim Purdy, who died as a result of the cruel indifference of Jefferson County Sheriff's personnel and the Jefferson County Jail's notoriously dangerous, incompetent private medical services provider, VitalCore. Mr. Purdy, who suffered from Parkinson's Disease and Dementia, fell violently over 70 times over the course of approximately a month's incarceration at the jail after VitalCore medical staff decided not to provide him with critical medications and Jefferson County personnel incorrectly housed Mr. Purdy in general population. Though Jefferson County deputies knew of Mr. Purdy's quickly worsening condition, and directly witnessed his accumulating open wounds over the course of [...]

By |2025-03-19T10:36:04-06:00February 20, 2025|Civil Rights, Killmer Lane, News|0 Comments

Efforts to Reform Qualified Immunity

Efforts to Reform Qualified Immunity There are growing calls to curtail or even abolish the court-created doctrine of qualified immunity. For instance, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has written separately from his colleagues to “note [his] growing concern with [the Supreme Court’s] qualified immunity jurisprudence.” Ziglar v. Abbasi, 137 S. Ct. 1843, 1870 (2017) (Thomas, J., concurring). In particular, Justice Thomas wrote that the Court’s qualified immunity analysis is no longer engaged in interpreting the will of the Congress that enacted § 1983 and other important federal statutes in the Civil Rights Act of 1871. Id. at 1870–71. Failing this, Justice Thomas expressed concern that “[o]ur qualified immunity precedents instead represent precisely the sort of ‘freewheeling policy choice[s]’ that we have previously disclaimed [...]

By |2025-02-11T09:16:33-07:00February 11, 2025|Civil Rights, Citizens Rights|0 Comments
  • Suhail Abdu Anam al-Sharabi Freed

Suhail Abdu Anam al-Sharabi Freed

Killmer Lane, LLP is gratified to report that our fifth (and final) client, Suhail Abdu Anam al-Sharabi, who had been wrongfully imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for almost 23 years, has finally been released from custody and resettled in Oman. Suhail was brutally tortured in the earlier years of the prison, and has been cleared for release for several years. We have represented him (and 4 other Yemeni men) since 2006, and finally all five have been released. Hopefully now he can begin a new and rewarding life outside of illegal captivity. More On NY Times More On This News Item

By |2025-05-23T12:17:44-06:00January 8, 2025|Civil Rights, Killmer Lane, News|0 Comments

What is Qualified Immunity?

What is Qualified Immunity? You have likely heard the phrase qualified immunity, but what exactly is it? Qualified immunity is a court-created doctrine that shields public officials sued for violating the United States Constitution from damages for money unless their conduct violated clearly established law. What does that mean? Let’s dive into the doctrine’s history, interpretation, and application. Qualified immunity is a court-created doctrine. Broadly speaking, there are two potential sources of law in the United States: court-created law and statutory law. Statutes are passed by federal, state, and local governments. These include all laws passed by legislatures. For example, Congress passed 42 U.S.C § 1983 in 1871. Section 1983 provides an individual the right to sue most public officials and others acting under [...]

By |2025-01-07T09:43:31-07:00January 7, 2025|Civil Rights, Citizens Rights|0 Comments
  • Child With Autism Assaulted By Paraprofessional

Child With Autism Assaulted By Paraprofessional

Child With Autism Who Was Repeatedly Assaulted By A Former Poudre School District (PSD) Paraprofessional KL Partners David Lane and Liana Orshan filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of the family of a child with autism who was repeatedly assaulted by a former Poudre School District (PSD) paraprofessional, Tyler Zanella, while riding the bus to school. PSD officials knew that Zanella had a concerning criminal history, but chose to hire him and place him in a position of authority and control over extremely vulnerable children. "They should have never hired Zanella, and the public should see the kinds of people they hired to take care of vulnerable kids on a school bus,"" said Lane. More On Denver 7 More On This [...]

By |2025-02-18T15:58:32-07:00October 1, 2024|Civil Rights, Killmer Lane, News|0 Comments
  • Barbaric Hazing Ritual at DPD Academy

Barbaric Hazing Ritual at DPD Academy

Barbaric Hazing Ritual at the Denver Police Academy KL Partners Darold Killmer and Reid Allison, with co-counsel John Holland, filed a lawsuit in Denver District Court today to seek justice for our client Victor Moses, who lost both legs after being forced to endure a "barbaric hazing ritual" at the Denver police academy. Known as "Fight Day," this hazing ritual is an unnecessarily violent rite of passage that recruits have to endure to be accepted into the police "fraternity." It is a shocking manifestation of a culture of excessive force and indifference to injuries at the Denver Police Department. More On Washington Post More On This News Item

By |2025-02-18T16:06:41-07:00July 30, 2024|Civil Rights, Killmer Lane, News|0 Comments
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