Concerns over false harassment complaints prompts Colorado Legislature to weigh policy change

A view of the Colorado Capitol on May 4, 2024. (Quentin Young/Colorado Newsline)

The Colorado Legislature could amend its workplace harassment policy to allow those at the center of a complaint an opportunity to respond much earlier than they can now.

A proposed change to the policy would require someone from the Office of Legal Services to interview the respondent — the person named in the complaint — about the allegations before initiating the formal resolution process.

Depending on that interview, the office could decide the complaint was false or made in bad faith and dismiss it entirely before initiating an investigation.

“Our members were giving us feedback that they were concerned about false complaints. We are not a typical workplace environment, and the concern that I heard from members was, what if there’s a politically motivated complaint that comes forward and that there is no basis for the complaint?” House Speaker Julie McCluskie, a Dillon Democrat, said during a Thursday meeting of the Legislative Council, which is composed of party leadership from both chambers.

Reaching out to respondents that early in the process is not common industry practice for workplace harassment investigations. Currently, respondents don’t have an opportunity to discuss details of the allegation against them before that investigative process begins.

Additionally, under the proposed policy change, filing a false complaint or in bad faith would violate the harassment policy.

“A person who abuses the process — this process itself could be used to potentially penalize them,” said Ed DeCecco, director of the Office of Legislative Legal Services.

If the complainant withdraws the allegation, the respondent under the proposed change could choose to have their response included in the complaint record.

The group did not take a vote on the new policy.

The House Workplace Harassment committee has met one time, in May 2023, since its creation in 2019. The Senate version of the committee has never met. During the 2023 meeting, the House panel determined that the complaint at hand, which was not disclosed, fell under the policy’s scope and hired a third-party investigator. They have not met since. Investigation summaries are made public only if the committee determines a state lawmaker violated the harassment policy.

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