State Democrats to strip senator of committee assignments after workplace allegations

Colorado State Senate leaders on Saturday said they will remove Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis from her committee assignments in response to renewed allegations that she mistreated employees in her office, which also prompted the state’s legislative aide union to call for her resignation.

Senate leadership stripped Jaquez Lewis of her state-paid aides earlier this week after two staffers formally complained that they were instructed to do chores around her home and bartend at a party she hosted, according to reporting by the Colorado Sun.

Incoming Senate President James Coleman and Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez said in a statement that Jaquez Lewis’ “alleged behavior is in direct conflict with our core Democratic values of protecting workers’ rights and uplifting our workforce.”

Coleman and Rodriguez said they planned to remove the senator from her committees for the coming session, a rare step that essentially blocks her from a key piece of the legislative process. Jaquez Lewis currently serves on the Health and Human Services and the Housing and Local Government committees.

In an open letter to Senate leaders earlier Saturday, the Political Workers Guild of Colorado had demanded that Jaquez Lewis resign or be removed.

“Jaquez Lewis has consistently shown that she does not have the ability to manage an office, sit in a leadership role as chair, and show basic respect and decency to staff and her colleagues,” the union wrote.

The senator was accused of trying to withhold pay from a staffer, which led to her removal as a committee leader and sponsor of a wage theft bill this year.

Responding to the union’s letter, Jaquez Lewis said Saturday that she took it “very seriously” and would support members’ concerns being investigated in a setting that would allow her to present evidence in her defense.

“I’m deeply sorry for my part of any miscommunication or any action on my part that has hurt anyone,” she said. “I am taking steps to proactively set up a nonpartisan HR management person that my staff can work with and go to for any issues. The path forward from here is to investigate what happened. I feel confident that this process will present my side of the story and all sides of the story.”

Coleman and Rodriguez also wrote that they will “honor any formal request” for the Senate Committee on Ethics to investigate Jaquez Lewis. A complaint has been filed against her, according to Coleman, although it was sent to Coleman, who was recently elected Senate president but will not formally assume the office until the legislature reconvenes next month.

A new complaint must be made to Coleman when he formally becomes president, Senate Democratic spokeswoman Nina Krizman told The Denver Post.

The ethics committee is composed of sitting senators and is tasked with investigating complaints against fellow members. In a process used against another Democratic senator this year, the committee first determined that a violation had occurred then held a separate meeting to settle on a response. The process also may involve an evidentiary hearing, although senators facing an ethics complaint may waive that step.

The committee can recommend a range of responses, including censure or for a legislator to be expelled from the Senate. That process requires a full vote of the chamber, and expulsion requires support from two-thirds of the 35-member Senate.

Jaquez Lewis has not indicated to Senate leadership that she intends to resign, Krizman said.

Since at least 2023, other Democratic lawmakers, including Fenberg, have admonished Jaquez Lewis for her alleged mistreatment of employees.

Fenberg wrote in a September 2023 email to Jaquez Lewis that several staff members and legislators had “witnessed behavior they found concerning” and that this behavior was “something I hope you will prioritize improving upon.”

He also said Senate staffers would not help her vet aides or place aides in her office in 2024.