Rising housing and rent costs are some of the biggest hurdles families in the Denver metro area face. This week Denver city officials celebrated the opening of 49 new affordable condos in the Five Points neighborhood. They are inside a new building called The Burrell Denver which is named after renowned Black musician Charles Burrell.

The Burrell is located on the 3500 block of Chestnut Place — right across the street from the start of the RiNo arts district — and housing like it is badly needed. It gives people who are earning up to or below 80% of the area median income an opportunity to purchase a home for the first time. A family of three qualifies if they earn $80,000 a year. A single person qualifies if they are earning about $66,000 a year.

Morgan English, 28, is in that category and says without this opportunity it would be impossible for her to own a home at her age.

“This is sort of a dream for me to be able to move out of my parents’ house, live in this area — which is one of the most up-and-coming areas – and especially for me wanting to work with the arts, it’s exactly where I want to be,” she said.

Now she’s in the process of buying a two-bedroom condo. Her monthly mortgage at The Burrell Denver will be less than $1,700.
She is a lawyer and an artist and is excited to have affordable housing as an option.

“I went to law school originally so that I can do pro bono or low-cost legal services, but there is not a lot of money in that as a lawyer, so when I’m thinking about my student loan debt and then also potentially housing costs in Denver, it’s almost impossible to do things for the community,” English said.

Denver city officials say the need for affordable housing is steady. They get calls on a daily basis asking for help.

“It’s not every city that has a land trust model at work delivering permanently affordable home ownership units, and that’s what we have here in Denver through partners the housing stability department works with,” said Derek Woodbury, who works for the city’s Department of Housing Stability.

As of Thursday evening, condos at The Burrell are still available to own.

“It just kind of makes me feel like I will have an asset and I am able to focus on my other dreams,” English said.

The Workers’ Compensation Act was first passed in Colorado in 1915. It’s administered by the Division of Workers’ Compensation in the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Although the state provides program administration, they do not directly pay claims. Instead, claims are paid through employers’ insurance or directly by employers.

Who Is Protected By Workers’ Compensation Laws in Denver, CO?

Not all workers in Colorado are protected by the Workers’ Compensation Act. The following employees are generally covered:

• State, county, and local employees. Federal employees are generally covered under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA).
• People receiving work experience assignments in state, county and local governments. These are generally people working in internships and include student teachers.
• Employees working for a person, firm or company. 
• Some volunteers. Volunteer firefighters, rescue teams, ambulance teams and other similar roles are covered while performing their duties and during drills or practice.
• Corporate officers and LLC members with at least 10% ownership in a company.
• Drivers for common carriers or contract carriers under certain conditions.

The following groups are expressly excluded from the Act:

• People who are employed by a passenger tramway area operator.
  This provision refers to people who work in recreational areas, such as ski resorts. If an employee is injured at a ski resort where they work during their free time, they are not eligible for workers’ compensation.
• People employed outside of Colorado who are providing incidental work within Colorado. These workers are generally covered under the Workers’ Compensation Act in their home state.
• Licensed real estate agents or brokers if they work as commission-based independent contractors.
• Inmates, except those working in programs offering workers’ compensation coverage.
• Volunteers at ski areas.
• Corporate officers and LLC members, if they have opted out of coverage in writing or own less than 10% of the company.
• Casual farm and ranch workers. This refers to workers who are hired sporadically or for short-term projects rather than ongoing part-time or full-time work.

Workers’ Rights Under Denver, CO Workers’ Comp Laws

Workers have specific rights spelled out in the Workers’ Compensation Act.

• The right to receive medical treatment after an injury at work.
• The right to be compensated for lost wages if caused by a work-related injury or illness.
• The right to appeal. If a workers’ compensation claim is denied, workers can appeal that decision.
• The right to be free from retaliation. Workers are protected against retaliation from their employers for filing a workers’ compensation claim.
• The right to privacy. Employers and insurers must protect workers’ medical privacy in line with applicable privacy laws.

The benefits schedule for Colorado workers’ compensation is set each year and varies based on whether the injury or illness is temporary or permanent and partial or total.

• For the period of July 1, 202, to June 30, 2024, temporary total disability (TTD) benefits are equal to two-thirds of your average weekly salary when you were injured (up to a maximum of $1,293.25 in benefits per week).
• For the period of July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, permanent total disability benefits can be set at the TTD rate, potentially for life.
• There are other schedules to determine how much is paid for partial disability, including the loss of use of limbs or disfigurement.
• Benefits can be calculated on Colorado’s Department of Labor and Employment’s website.

Filing Process for Workers’ Compensation in  Denver, CO

If you’ve been injured in the workplace in Colorado, it’s important that you follow all the rules and regulations closely. If you don’t, there’s a chance your claim will be denied. A workers’ compensation attorney can help you ensure your compliance with these requirements.

1. Report your injury to your employer within 10 days of the injury or the discovery of illness.
2. In non-emergency situations, your employer will provide you with a Designated Provider List. Choose a doctor from this list.
3. File a Workers’ Claim for Compensation (Form WC15) within two years of your injury or illness.
4. Your employer has 20 days to accept or deny your claim. If your claim is denied, you can apply for an expedited hearing, which will occur within 60 days, or a standard hearing, which will occur within 120 days.
5. If your claim is approved, work with your doctor(s) towards MMI, or maximum medical improvement. This is the point at which additional medical treatment will not substantially improve your medical situation.
6. Your employer will file a Final Admission within 30 days of you reaching MMI. If you accept this final admission, your case will close, but any approved treatment will continue to be paid for.
7. If you do not accept the Final Admission (or some portion of it), you must file an objection and request one of the following:
   1. If you disagree with the date of MMI or your assigned impairment rating, you must file for a Division Independent Medical Examination.
   2. If you disagree with anything other than the date of the MMI or your assigned impairment rating, you must file an Application for Hearing.

Workers’ Recovery for Workplace Injuries Beyond Workers’ Comp in Denver, CO

If you are told that you do not qualify for workers’ compensation and you believe this to be a mistake, you should speak with an attorney as soon as possible to get assistance.

If you do not qualify for workers’ compensation, your injuries may still be covered under your health insurance. You may also qualify for Colorado disability benefits.

If your workers’ compensation claim has been denied, speak with a lawyer about your next steps.

DALLAS — Jamie Benn needs to “feel” you, as Nuggets coach Michael Malone likes to say. Right between the ears.

If the NHL won’t send a message to Benn, the Dallas Stars’ goon in green, then the Avalanche must. Starting with Game 3 Saturday night at Ball Arena.

Legal hit? More like calculated assault. At worst, the Dallas captain should’ve seen five minutes in the sin bin for his cheap shot of Avs defender Devon Toews some 2:43 into the second period of Game 2.

Benn launched. He left his feet. Toews’ head snapped like a crash test dummy. Officials declared it a shoulder-on-shoulder crime and suggested we all move on. To paraphrase my best pal Deion Sanders, that’s some bull junk, right there.

For one, even if the Stars winger was aiming for Toews’ shoulder, at least one angle showed him connecting directly with No. 7’s neck. Which, last I checked, is connected to and immediately south of the head.

“I mean, does he catch a piece of his shoulder? Yeah, I guess you could argue that,” Avs coach Jared Bednar, whose team returns to Denver after a road split at American Airlines Center, replied when I asked about the collision. “But the target is high and it’s at his head, and he makes contact with the head. And I’ve seen, many times, guys get called for the head shot and penalty with a lot less than that. But I guess they didn’t think so.”

Two, Benn knew exactly what he was doing. The Stars knew what he was doing. Dallas coach Pete DeBoer, whose Vegas teams delighted in pushing the Avs around in the postseason, knew darn well.

“Benner has been outstanding in this playoff. I thought against Vegas he did and he did (it) smart,” the Stars boss said late Thursday night. “He did it at the right times and he did it clean. But his presence physically is having an impact for us in these playoffs in a real positive way.’’

Kareem Jackson, my man, you chose the wrong sport. DeBoer woulda loved you.

In the NFL, Benn’s shot is an ejection, a fine, a suspension and a chat with the safety cops.

In the NHL, it’s a “real positive” presence, a strategic wrinkle in a no-holds-barred, merciless bracket.

The refs decided the hit was at Toews’ shoulder blade and not a head shot. Some slo-mo angles showed otherwise, especially as the D-man pinged off another Dallas player like a rag dol. By the letter of the law, it looked (makes air quotes) “clean.”

But barely legal is still barely.

“It is what it is,” Bednar said. “You’ve got to play through it.”

You’ve got to respond. After that hit, Gabe Landeskog would’ve found a convenient, strategic moment in the action to kindly re-arrange Benn’s face.

Once a bully knows they can get away with murder in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, there’s only way to stop a killing spree.

Someone’s gotta pick up the Captain’s spine. Someone’s gotta let Benn know that this won’t stand. And neither will he.

Someone’s gotta pick up Landy’s steel. Landy’s soul.

It’s not in Nathan MacKinnon’s game, bless him. It’s not in Cale Makar’s DNA, although a reactive shove after Toews got clocked landed him in an awkward headlock for a few seconds.

“Hopefully there was no intent into the head,” Avs forward Andrew Cogliano said of the Benn ambush.

Then, instead of walking it back, Cogs walked it forward.

“Maybe there was, obviously, a little bit to the head,” he added. “But, yeah, I don’t know.”

He knew. Everybody did.

“It’s a physical game this time of year,” Bednar said, “but I just can’t understand how that was not a penalty. Even if it isn’t a five (minute major).”

Join the club. Fortunately, Toews returned to the ice, but Benn needs a break. And a lesson. If the league won’t do it, somebody in burgundy and blue needs to apply a little elbow grease.

Better yet, the whole elbow.

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