A former state administrative assistant says Colorado shorted her paycheck after her office moved into Denver, and she is taking the state to court over it. The new lawsuit, which aims to become a class action, accuses the state of underpaying dozens of workers compared with Denver's higher local minimum wage and turns into an early test of a recent law that limits when Colorado has to follow city wage rules.
What the suit alleges
According to the complaint, Jenny Telles worked in Denver from January through April after her state office relocated from Lakewood to a building at Federal Boulevard and Colfax Avenue. She says she realized something was off when she saw a bus-stop ad noting that Denver's 2026 minimum wage is $19.29 an hour, while she was making roughly a dollar less per hour at the time. Telles and other workers in her unit want a court to certify a class of similarly underpaid state employees covering the last three years and to order payment of back wages, interest, statutory penalties, treble damages and attorney fees, according to reporting from Denverite.
SB26-193 and the new state rule
The case is unfolding in the shadow of SB26-193, a bill the General Assembly passed this spring that was billed as a cleanup measure to clarify when local laws apply to state agencies and to exempt the state from certain local business taxes. The law rewrites the statutory definition of “employer,” so the state is not treated as an employer for purposes of local minimum wage ordinances, except where a state agency's wages are controlled by a collective bargaining agreement. Lawmakers enacted the measure this year, and the bill text, summary, sponsor list and vote history are posted by the Colorado General Assembly.
Lawmakers and advocates weigh in
Backers of SB26-193 argued that without the change, the state would have to juggle a patchwork of city rules every time an office moved or an employee worked across municipal lines. At one committee hearing, Rep. Rick Taggart said it would be “virtually impossible” for Colorado to keep up with many different municipal wage ordinances at once. Labor groups and worker advocates countered that many of the lowest-paid and most essential state workers do not have union contracts and could be left exposed under the new structure, and attorneys for Telles say the alleged underpayments may be part of a larger pattern. Those debates and quotes were detailed by Denverite.
Pay numbers and local enforcement
For 2026, Denver's citywide minimum wage is set at $19.29 per hour, while Colorado's statewide floor is $15.16, according to the City and County of Denver and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Denver's Auditor's Office is responsible for enforcing the local ordinance, conducting outreach, and investigating complaints. At the state level, the labor department issues the annual PAY CALC and COMPS orders that establish Colorado's minimum wage and related rules. For more on those statewide rates, see the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
Legal implications
The key legal fight will be over timing: whether the state's recent change to the definition of “employer” can be used to block back-pay claims by workers who say they were under Denver's local minimum wage before SB26-193 took effect. The statute specifically narrows the “employer” definition so the state is generally not covered by local minimum wage rules, except in situations where pay is set through collective bargaining, language that lawmakers added during floor debate. The full bill text and the final version of the act are available on the Colorado General Assembly website.
The lawsuit is still in its early stages. Telles is asking the court to certify the case as a class action and to award the unpaid wages and statutory remedies laid out in the complaint. If the case moves forward, it could help determine whether other state employees who worked in higher-paying municipalities can pursue similar claims, and it will give courts a first real shot at interpreting the new carve-outs that SB26-193 created for state employers.
