Colorado Ballot Measure Proposal Would Require Just Cause to Fire Employees

Employers can fire their employees at any time for any reason in 49 states, with limited exceptions for contract workers, retaliation and discrimination against protected classes.

A proposed ballot measure would remove Colorado from that list of at-will employment states, joining Montana as the nation's second "just-cause employment" state. If passed by voters, the measure would prohibit private employers from firing employees without establishing just cause, such as substandard performance, policy violations or economic circumstances impacting the employer.

"This is really just making sure that there's a valid reason to terminate employees," said Dennis Dougherty, executive director of Colorado AFL-CIO, which is backing the proposal with SEIU Local 105 and UFCW Local 7. "You don't have the type of job security you think you do. There is a lot of subjectiveness that can go into you losing your career."

The labor unions launched a petitioning campaign for the proposal on Tuesday, May 13, starting the process of gathering the 124,238 signatures needed to qualify for the November 2026 ballot.

The event also celebrated the passage of Senate Bill 25-005, an effort to ease the formation of labor unions by eliminating a state requirement that unionized workers pass a second election to negotiate the provision of union contracts that address dues and fees. Lawmakers approved the bill on May 6, but Governor Jared Polis has said he intends to veto it.

Labor advocates expressed frustration with the legislative process on Tuesday, promoting the "direct democracy" aspect of the just cause ballot measure.

"We are going to take the issues of working people in this state directly to the ballot box," said Stephanie Felix-Sowy, president of SEIU Local 105. "The people are with us, we know that. The politicians who want to be on the right side of history will be with us in this fight as well."

Attendees at Tuesday's event included Secretary of State Jena Griswold, state Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez, state Senator Jessie Danielson and state representatives Javier Mabrey, Bob Marshall and Sheila Lieder, in addition to representatives from groups such as El Centro de los Trabajadores, the Denver Classroom Teachers Association and the Colorado Working Families Party.

Also among the crowd was a man who bears a striking resemblance to Governor Polis, wearing Reebok Shaq Attaq sneakers and a name tag that read "Jerry Polis." The man, Colorado AFL-CIO political director Robert Rolf Lindgren, jokingly introduced himself as the governor's "cooler cousin." 

"There's still time to do the right thing and sign this bill," Lindgren said in a message to his gubernatorial doppelgänger.

He dressed as Polis to lighten the mood amid the looming veto of SB 5. "Today is about celebrating the solidarity and hard work that people put into this bill. I wanted to come out and do something a little bit fun, a little bit wacky," he added.

Advocates of the just cause ballot measure have until October 24 to collect signatures and submit them to the Secretary of State's Office.

Businesses that employ at least eight people in Colorado would be impacted by the proposed ballot measure, needing just cause to fire employees who have worked for them for at least six months. If an employer does not establish just cause, employees could file a lawsuit.

Two other proposed ballot measures have qualified to begin petitioning: one initiative seeking to end Colorado's wolf reintroduction program and another to prohibit employees from being forced to join a labor union or pay union fees as a condition of employment.