Denver dad claims he was fired from his job for taking state family leave benefits

November 10

When Ryan Tartar’s daughter Sunny was born, he was excited to take time off work to bond with her. Thanks to Colorado’s FAMLI program, workers in the state can take up to 12 weeks of paid leave within a year following a child’s birth.

Tartar applied for leave and received an email on March 13 from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) saying he’d been approved. The same day his employer had been notified and decided to fire him. “I am forced to let you go in order to replace you with an employee that will show up reliably and on time,” his boss wrote in the email that evening

“It was extremely disappointing,” Tartar told 9NEWS Steve On Your Side. “That the firing would have happened and then the grievance on top of it seems very retaliatory.”

Despite being terminated, Tartar still thought he was eligible for the program. H claims he contacted the state several times to verify his eligibility and was assured he would receive payments. Two weeks later, he and his family set off on a road trip to introduce his daughter to the rest of the family. For four weeks, he received weekly payments.

But before the fifth payment hit his account, Tartar received a notification from the program stating that his ex-employer had filed a grievance and he was deemed ineligible for the program.

“Then I get another email back like the next day saying that I need to pay back what I had been receiving or I’ve had received so far,” he said. “So, I mean, in the middle of our road trip, that was a big hit.”

Colorado’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program, or FAMLI, is funded by a fee of 0.9% of the employee’s wage, which is split between the employers and employees. The act allows workers to apply for leave after the birth of a child, for medical issues, to care for a family member, and domestic violence victims escaping their abusers. The Colorado Department of Employment told Steve on Your Side that 50,000 parents have applied for up to 12 weeks of paid leave since the program launched in January.

It also offers job protection while an employee is on leave to prevent retaliation — or it’s supposed to. The site also directs users to file a complaint if they experience retaliation and states employers who act unlawfully may be liable for monetary damages and to rehire workers they retaliate against.

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But now, the state has told Tartar he was never eligible because he was unemployed when the leave started — and they want him to pay back the more than $3,400 he’s already received.

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Tartar believes his employer retaliated against him for taking leave and filed a complaint with the state — and he’s not alone. The Steve On Your Side team discovered that 203 families have complained to the state about similar retaliation since the program began offering benefits in January 2024.

Nearly 160 complaints, including Tartar’s, were dismissed. The rest are under investigation or have been voluntarily dismissed.

According to Tartar’s employer, he was fired for other reasons, though documentation submitted in response to his complaint was limited.

“They’ve designed a system that gives that employer anywhere from a week to two weeks to decide, ‘I don’t want this person to get these benefits,’ and then they can just fire you in whatever manner they please,” Tartar said. “What was supposed to be a fun and enjoy[able] trip turned in to be extremely stressful.”

Tartar’s experience is leaving many to question whether the program truly protects employees from retaliation — or if more safeguards are needed to protect families already in a vulnerable position.

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

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