This Job Sucks

An Aspen man is blown away by an alleged job requirement.

A A A Comments By Stuart Steers Thursday, Jul 11 2002

...continued from page 3

Miller insists that Aspen's ordinance does cover this situation, however, and that the prohibition on discrimination based on sexual orientation clearly applies to an interaction between two men of different persuasions.

"From our perspective, the way to look at it is as sex discrimination -- whether it's homosexual or heterosexual -- and it is prohibited by law," says Miller. "It's the same as if a person who was straight was demanding sexual favors for work. This happens to be the flip side of the coin."

Mitch O'Connell

Michael Brands

Matthew Jay

More About

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter: Our weekly feature stories, movie reviews, calendar picks and more - minus the newsprint and sent directly to your inbox.

Judge Thomas Ossola has not yet ruled on the defense's motion for summary judgment. The trial is now set for next spring.

"This is the last thing I ever wanted," says Jay. "But the issue is right and wrong, and what they're doing is clearly wrong." Still, he isn't waiting for a verdict to get on with his life and is pursuing his map venture as well as litigation. He's even hired part-time employees to market the guides, which include advertising from local businesses. Jay plans to expand his enterprise to other cities.

"The name 'Aspen' has more name recognition than any other ski area in the country," says Jay. "If I can create a viable product and prove its worth in Aspen, I can take it to other places."

He's always been ambitious. As a teenager in Indianapolis, he started a landscape service and carefully invested his earnings. He used that money to launch the current venture; since then, he's befriended several businesspeople in Aspen who have become mentors and helped him with the business.

"There's a lot of smart, successful businessmen in Aspen," he says.

He may be one of them.