Chapter 2 - § 2.6 • REMEDIES

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 2.6 • REMEDIES

§ 2.6.1—Available Damages

An employee generally is entitled to recover "economic damages designed to put the . . . employee in the same position he or she would have been had the employer not breach[ed] the employment contract." See Decker v. Browning-Ferris Indus. of Colo., Inc., 931 P.2d 436, 446 (Colo. 1997). Such damages typically include the earnings and benefits (back pay) the employee would have received under the terms of the contract during the full term of the contract. See CJI-Civ. 31:7 (CLE ed. 2017); see also Adams v. Frontier Airlines Fed. Credit Union, 691 P.2d 352 (Colo. App. 1984) (holding that plaintiff was entitled to recover value of benefits under employment contract, including employer's pension contributions, life, health and dental insurance, and use of car); Townsend v. Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall, 196 F.3d 1140, 1148-49 (10th Cir. 1999) (upholding damage award of life insurance proceeds).

Previously, if an employee was able to prove a willful and wanton breach of the employment contract, the employee could recover non-economic damages, which typically included damages for emotional distress. See Giampapa v. Am. Family Mut. Ins. Co., 64 P.3d 230, 238 (Colo. 2003) (holding that a complete range of non-economic damages is available for a willful and wanton breach of contract, so long as the damages are foreseeable at the time of contracting and the damages are a natural and probable result of the breach); Decker, 931 P.2d at 447-48; see also Allabashi v. Lincoln Nat'l Sales Corp., 824 P.2d 1, 4 (Colo. App. 1991). However, for civil actions filed on or after July 1, 2004, non-economic damages can be recovered only if specifically authorized in the employment contract. See C.R.S. § 13-21-102.5(6)(a)(I)(A).

If the employee establishes a claim of promissory estoppel based on an employer's prehire statements, the employee may recover back pay based upon an implied reasonable term of employment. See Pickell v. Arizona Components Co., 931 P.2d 1184 (Colo. 1997). If the employee is discharged in violation of the procedures of an employee handbook, but the employer establishes "good or just cause" for the discharge, the employee still may recover an award of nominal damages. See Rogers v. Bd. of Trustees of Town of Frasier, 859 P.2d 284 290-91 (Colo. App. 1993).

Another component of economic damages that employees may seek to recover is the value of lost stock options. See Montemayor v. Jacor Communications, Inc., 64...