When discrimination happens in the workplace, employees who have unfairly lost their jobs have few places to turn for help, particularly on the Western Slope, supporters of a bill to fix that say, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports. That’s why Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, introduced a measure into the Colorado Legislature this session that would implement a new provision in discrimination cases tried in state courts that could leave small businesses liable for compensatory and punitive damages should they lose.

Raymond L. Gifford

By Matt Masich, STATE BILL COLORADO
DENVER — Six attorneys have left Denver law firm Kamlet Reichert to join Washington, D.C.-based Wilkinson Barker & Knauer, a firm that does not currently have a Denver office. Leaving Kamlet Reichert’s Denver office are Raymond L. Gifford, Eric D. Gunning, Adam M. Peters, Philip J. Roselli and Mark A. Walker. Leaving the D.C. office is Kyle D. Dixon.
Gifford, the former head of Colorado’s Public Utilities Commission, was for the last three years in charge of Kamlet Reichert’s communications, Internet and intellectual property practice. From 2003 to 2006, he led the Washington, D.C.-based Progress & Freedom Foundation think tank. Gifford was chairman of the PUC from 1999 to 2003, serving as an appointee of former Gov. Bill Owens. Last year he led a successful pro bono legal push to get PUC approval for Union Taxi to operate.
Wilkinson Barker & Knauer bills itself as one of the nation’s leading communications law firms. The firm does not now list a Denver office. Its clients range from the largest communications companies in the world to small start-ups. Kathleen Abernathy, a partner in the firm, previously served as a Commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission.
Kamlet Reichert’s attorney roster has dwindled from a firm-wide 48 in 2008, to 35 in 2009, to 21 at present, according to Law Week Colorado research.

By Allie Winter, STATE BILL COLORADO
Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, doesn’t want branches of government to hire outside counsel, the way Gov. Ritter did last year, without a decent explanation. That’s why he’s sponsoring SB10-136, a bill that would require the governor or chief justice to put in writing why they need to hire a third-party lawyer instead of using state-funded Attorney General John Suthers.
Harvey referred to Ritter employing his former law firm, Hogan & Hartson, as an example of unnecessary money being spent. “We spent [thousands of dollars] to the governor’s former law firm to be able to do this service when the attorney general’s office most likely could have done it,” Harvey said.
While John Suthers’ camp is saying it’s neutral when it comes to this bill, Harvey said Suthers helped him with the wording of the bill to make sure that legally everything was correct.
The bill is not meant to prohibit the executive branch from doing what it wants to do, Harvey said, but it just makes them justify it.
He suspects there will be some opposition from the liberals in the General Assembly. “I think it will be interesting to see how the Democrats handle it,” he said. “[The bill] is bringing up the fact that Gov. Ritter did do that, and it puts limits on the government’s ability in the future.”
The bill is scheduled to be heard in a Senate State Affairs committee early next week.

A bill that makes a third DUI conviction a felony is scheduled to be heard Monday afternoon by a House committee, The Denver Post reports. House Bill 1184 doesn’t have a fiscal note attached to it yet but several Capitol observors say they believe the price tag will be too prohibitive for the budget-challenged stat

“If there’s one thing personal injury lawyers are especially good at, it’s exploiting the misfortunes of their clients while devising new ways to line their own pockets,” Mark Hillman writes in The Denver Post. “Colorado House Bill 1168 is this year’s prime example. While claiming to help injured parties receive full compensation for damages caused by the fault of someone else, what it really does is guarantee that the injured person, in order to be fully compensated, must hire a lawyer.”

For Rep. Cory Gardner, three strikes don’t mean he’s out when it comes to trying to amend the so-called “Make My Day” law, The Colorado Statesman reports. The Yuma Republican will make a fourth attempt this session to expand to business owners and employees the law that allows residents to use deadly force to protect their households.

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Aurora Police cited Jordyn Lucas under Colorado’s two-month-old ban on texting while driving, KDVR reports. Lucas, as far as anyone knows, is the first person with a texting ticket. And she says she supports the law more than ever.

More than 7,000 Colorado drivers would face mandatory jail sentences each year if legislators carry out their promises to get tough with people who repeatedly drink and drive, The Denver Post reports. It will not be an easy promise to keep when the state legislature convenes Wednesday. The price of confining that many drivers even for a month or two could run $20 million.

“It’s a scandal that Cory Voorhis’ career has come to this: a federal hearing later this month at which he’ll plead to get his job back,” columnist Vince Carroll writes.

By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS
Union Taxi and Freedom Cab drivers are objecting to a proposal that would require the two companies to “pay to play” if they want to use Cherry Creek Shopping Center’s cab stand.
Drivers first fought an exclusive agreement between the mall’s owner, Taubman Co., and Metro Taxi and Yellow Cab companies that would have exclusively allowed Metro and Yellow to use the mall’s taxi stand. But since the Denver Daily News reported the story on Nov. 13 — before the issue received widespread attention — Cherry Creek has agreed to include Union and Freedom at their stand.
The two companies, however, would need to “pay to play.”
Mall managers say it is completely fair to request “rent” from cab companies because the mall is on private property. The original exclusive agreement with Yellow and Metro had called for rent. The Denver Business Journal reported that the two companies had agreed to pay $12,500 a year for exclusive access to the mall’s taxi stand. It would have been the first such exclusive agreement between the mall and the cab companies.
But Union Taxi driver Abdi Buni says the drivers are serving the general public by shuttling consumers to and from the mall. He says because the public is being served, the cab companies should not have to pay to use the cab stand.
“Why would anybody have to pay money when we’re serving the public?” he asked.
Union Taxi was only established in Denver earlier this year after a long battle to do so. Drivers themselves started the co-op after complaining about low wages and long hours at other companies.
Buni points out that while Metro and Yellow may have the money to pay to play because they’ve been around longer, Union doesn’t enjoy that same advantage.
But mall General Manager Nick LeMasters looks at the issue from a different perspective. He points out that Cherry Creek Shopping Center is not only one of Denver’s premier shopping locations, but also one of the area’s biggest tourist attractions.
He says if cab drivers are able to profit from using the mall’s taxi stand, then the mall should be able to charge them rent.
“The cab companies and their drivers profit from the ability to be able to be at Cherry Creek and pick up our customers, and anybody who profits from their presence at our shopping center pays for that privilege, whether it’s a store or a specialty retail unit, it doesn’t matter who it is — if you profit from the shopping center, there’s a fee that goes with that,” said LeMasters.
The issue gained momentum last month when community leaders stepped into the equation, calling for a boycott of the mall if the exclusive agreement was honored.
Union and Freedom filed complaints with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission arguing that the agreement was anti-competitive.
Buni, a Denver cab driver for the past 10 years working for both Union and Yellow, said Union and Freedom cab meter rates are generally lower than Metro’s and Yellow’s rates — anywhere from 45 cents to 85 cents cheaper. The public agreed and let out a cry that Cherry Creek Shopping Center managers heard.
“We’ve heard feedback from the community about the perceived unfairness of our decision and we listened to that feedback, we took it to heart and we’ve decided that it was in the best interest of both the cab companies, their drivers and the shopping center to revisit that decision,” said LeMasters.
He would not release the details of the contract being proposed to the cab companies, but said it would include limiting the number of cabs allowed to line up at the mall’s taxi stand to nine, as well as include “rent.”
But Union cab drivers say they will continue their fight until no rent is required.
“The question is why do we have to pay?” asked Buni. “There is no where else (in Denver) where the mall gets paid for taxi drivers to pickup customers.”

Distributed by Colorado Capitol Reporters