3 Steps To Take After Wrongful Termination in Colorado

The day after a firing usually starts with a box of desk items on the kitchen table, a final paycheck that may or may not be right, and a question nobody at the company would answer: was that legal? Colorado is an at-will state, so many terminations are unfair without being unlawful, but some cross the line, and the steps you take in the next few weeks decide whether you can do anything about it. This post covers what makes a firing wrongful in Colorado and the three steps that protect your options. If you were hurt on the job before you were let go, a Colorado workers’ comp lawyer at Boesen Law can tell you in a free consultation whether the firing touches your injury claim.

When a Firing Crosses the Line in Colorado

At-will employment means an employer can end the job for almost any reason, or no reason at all, without notice. Colorado law carves out exceptions, and a firing becomes wrongful when it falls into one of them. The most common ones look like this:

• Retaliation for a workers’ comp claim. Colorado courts have held since Lathrop v. Entenmann’s, Inc. (Colo. App. 1989) that firing someone for pursuing workers’ compensation benefits violates public policy and supports a lawsuit for damages. Whether an employer can fire you while you are on workers’ comp depends on the real reason for the decision.
• Other public policy violations. Firing a worker for refusing to break the law, for performing a legal duty such as jury service, or for exercising an important job-related right can also support a claim.
• Discrimination. The Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act bars firing someone because of disability, race, sex, pregnancy, age 40 and over, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, and other protected traits listed by the Colorado Civil Rights Division.
• Retaliation for opposing discrimination. Complaining about discrimination, filing a charge, or helping with an investigation is protected activity.
• Broken promises. A written contract, or in some cases a handbook with specific termination procedures, can limit an employer’s right to fire at will.

Boesen Law is a personal injury and workers’ compensation firm. When a firing is tied to a work injury or a comp claim, that is squarely our work. For discrimination and contract disputes without an injury, the agencies and resources below are the right starting point.

For answers to your questions, call:
(303) 999-9999

The 3 Steps To Take After a Wrongful Termination

Anger is normal after a firing. What follows is the order that tends to protect people best, starting on the day you leave.

Step 1: Get the Reason and Your Final Pay in Writing

Ask your manager or HR, calmly, for the reason for the termination, and ask for it in an email or letter. A reason that changes later is often the best evidence a wrongful termination case has. Then check your final paycheck. When an employer ends the job, the Colorado Wage Act makes earned wages due immediately, with a short grace period of six hours into the next workday if payroll is on site, or 24 hours if it is off site. The Colorado Division of Labor Standards and Statistics handles wage complaints when that pay is late or short.

Step 2: Build Your Paper Trail Before Access Disappears

Company email and shared drives usually shut off the day you leave, so gather what you are entitled to keep and write down what you remember while it is fresh:

1. Your termination letter or the email announcing it.
2. Recent performance reviews, especially good ones.
3. Texts or emails about your injury, your comp claim, or any complaint you made.
4. Your written injury report and the date you gave it to your employer.
5. Names and phone numbers of coworkers who saw what happened.
6. A dated timeline of events, from the injury or complaint to the firing.

Do not take confidential company files you are not allowed to have. That can hand the employer a defense.

Step 3: File With the Right Agency Before the Clock Runs

Different claims run on different deadlines, and missing one can end the claim entirely:

• Unemployment benefits. File a claim with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment as soon as you lose the job. Being fired does not automatically disqualify you.
• Discrimination or retaliation under state law. A charge must be filed with the Colorado Civil Rights Division within 300 days of notice of the firing, and submitting intake information is not the same as filing a formal charge.
• Workers’ compensation. If you were injured at work, a claim must generally be filed within two years of the injury under C.R.S. § 8-43-103.

Each of these tracks has its own rules, and a lawyer can help you line them up so one filing does not undercut another.

If You Were Hurt on the Job Before You Were Fired

This is where a firing gets complicated, and where Boesen Law spends most of its time on termination questions. Losing the job does not erase an accepted workers’ comp claim. Your authorized medical care continues, and any permanent impairment benefits you earn are still owed.

Wage benefits are the pressure point. Under C.R.S. § 8-42-105(4), when a temporarily disabled worker is found responsible for the termination, the resulting wage loss is not treated as caused by the injury, and temporary disability checks can stop. Employers and insurers sometimes use that rule aggressively, pointing to a minor attendance issue or a policy violation to shut off benefits right after a claim is filed. Being fired for reasons you did not control, such as a layoff or restrictions the employer would not accommodate, is a different situation.

If your checks stop after a termination, the insurer’s decision can be challenged at a hearing, and the steps are similar to fighting a denied workers’ comp claim. Timing matters. Our firm reviews the paperwork on both the firing and the benefit change, then pushes back before the gap in income grows.

A Colorado Workers’ Comp Attorney on Firings After an Injury

Nick McWharter, a Colorado native with a background in economics and mathematics who now focuses on workers’ compensation, puts it this way:

“The firing is what people call about, but the math usually says the injury claim is worth more. I start with the dates: when you got hurt, when you reported it, when you were written up, and when you were let go. If the discipline only started after the injury report, that pattern tells a story an administrative judge will listen to. And even when the termination itself holds up, the medical benefits and impairment award from the comp claim are still yours, so we make sure nobody walks away from those just because the job ended.”

That is the approach we bring to every call: keep the injury claim whole first, then look hard at the firing.

What Cases Like Yours Have Recovered

A serious work injury claim has value on its own terms, whatever happens to the job. For a roofer who fell from a two-story building and suffered a broken pelvis, a brain bleed, and a broken elbow that needed surgery, Boesen Law secured $243,000, enough to cover full medical expenses and provide for future medical needs. You can review other outcomes on our case results page.

Contact Boesen Law After a Firing That Followed a Work Injury

If you were fired after getting hurt at work, after reporting an injury, or while your comp claim was open, your recovery is our priority. As a boutique firm with big results, Boesen Law treats a benefit cutoff as urgent, because every missed check lands on your household budget.

Contact Boesen Law to set up a free, in-person consultation. Bring your termination letter and any comp paperwork you have. There is no fee unless we win, and we can meet in English, Russian, or Spanish.

FAQs About Wrongful Termination in Colorado

What qualifies as wrongful termination in Colorado?

A firing is wrongful in Colorado when it breaks a specific legal rule, not simply when it is unfair. The main categories are retaliation for pursuing workers’ compensation or another protected right, firing that violates public policy, discrimination based on a protected trait, retaliation for opposing discrimination, and firing that breaks a written contract. A firing for poor performance, a personality clash, or a business downturn is usually legal under at-will employment.

How hard is it to sue for wrongful termination?

It takes proof. Because Colorado starts from at-will employment, the worker has to show that the real reason for the firing was an illegal one. Timing helps, such as a firing that came soon after an injury report, but timing alone rarely wins. Written evidence, shifting explanations, and treatment of coworkers in similar situations make the difference.

Can I sue for emotional distress in Colorado after being fired?

Sometimes. A wrongful discharge in violation of public policy is a tort claim, so damages can reach beyond lost pay when the evidence supports it, including the emotional harm the firing caused. Colorado also recognizes a separate claim for outrageous conduct, but courts set that bar high, and an ordinary firing, even a harsh one, usually does not meet it. Workers’ comp itself does not pay for emotional distress from a termination.

What are the odds of winning a wrongful termination case?

No official source publishes a reliable win rate, and any number you see online is a guess. Your odds depend on the evidence: the timeline, the documents, the witnesses, and whether you met every filing deadline. The strongest cases we see in our practice pair a clear protected activity, like reporting a work injury, with a sudden change in how the employer treated the worker. If lost income is part of your claim, how lost wages are calculated also shapes what the case is worth.

Call (303) 999-9999 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form