Date: April 16, 2025
The Denver Post and Law360 reported on TELG client Morgan Medlock's recent lawsuit against Colorado Governor Jared Polis and his former chief of staff. Dr. Medlock alleged that she was discriminated against based on her race while she worked as the commissioner for Colorado's Behavioral Health Administration. Dr. Medlock is represented by TELG principal R. Scott Oswald.
Quoteworthy:
"No one can be expected simply to lie down for such injustice — and this complaint shows that Ms. Medlock, a proud public servant, will instead stand up and be heard in court."
R. Scott Oswald
[EXCERPT]
Former head of Colorado’s Behavioral Health Administration sues Colorado governor
The first head of Colorado’s Behavioral Health Administration filed a federal lawsuit this week seeking financial compensation and the return of her job because she alleges the state fired her because of her race.
Dr. Morgan Medlock, who is Black, was chief medical officer and director of crisis and emergency services in Washington, D.C., before coming to Colorado to serve as commissioner of the new Behavioral Health Administration in January 2022. She lost her job in April 2023.
Medlock sued in U.S. District Court on Tuesday, alleging the state, Gov. Jared Polis, Colorado Department of Humans Services executive director Michelle Barnes and the governor’s former chief of staff, Alec Garnett, discriminated and retaliated against her.
[…]
Medlock alleged that Barnes treated her “less favorably” than non-Black members of the governor’s cabinet, and incorrectly listed her as reporting to Barnes rather than to Polis in a Department of Human Services organization chart. She also said one of Barnes’ subordinates reprimanded her for the way she chaired a meeting, which she attributed to her identity as a Black woman.
» View full story on The Denver Post
[ADDITIONAL COVERAGE]
Colo. Gov. Ignored Ex-Official’s Race Bias Concerns, Suit Says
From Law360 (April 15, 2025)
A former commissioner of Colorado’s Behavioral Health Administration filed a race discrimination lawsuit on Tuesday accusing Gov. Jared Polis and his former chief of staff of ignoring reports that she was treated worse than peers because she is African American and then firing her for complaining.
Dr. Morgan Medlock was hired to launch the newly formed agency under the Colorado Department of Human Services in January 2022. As BHA commissioner, Medlock was also a member of the governor’s cabinet.
The complaint recounts various incidents over Medlock’s 15-month tenure in which she says Polis, his former Chief of Staff Alec Garnett and CDHS Executive Director Michelle Barnes failed to address discriminatory conduct toward her and undermined her role as a cabinet member.
She alleges that she went straight to the governor after clashes in which Garnett accused her of being disrespectful and intervened in the hiring process for Medlock’s new chief of staff.
Medlock says she complained to Garnett in March 2023 about online harassment from “a prominent white stakeholder.” The next day, during a meeting between the two, Garnett accused Medlock of being disrespectful, the lawsuit claims.
[…]
R. Scott Oswald of The Employment Law Group PC, counsel for Medlock, said in a statement to Law360 on Tuesday that his client was “repeatedly treated worse than her non-Black peers in Gov. Polis’ cabinet.”
“When she drew attention to this, including by reaching out directly to the governor, she faced nothing but inaction, retaliation, and ultimately firing,” said. “No one can be expected simply to lie down for such injustice — and this complaint shows that Ms. Medlock, a proud public servant, will instead stand up and be heard in court.”
