Hello Marsha,

As you may know, Colorado is an employment "At Will" state. That means that unless there is a written contract or company policy that gives an employee more job protection they can be terminated, or demoted, for any or no reason, and with no notice or warning. The only other constraint on the employer being able to do this is that they cannot target an employee for adverse employment action simply because that employee is a member of a protected class under employment discrimination laws. So, unless your situation fits within one of the exceptions, there would be no legal issue related to wrongful Termination.

As for the unemployment eligibility issue, that is a bit more complicated. No one, other than the State can tell you whether or not you will qualify for benefits since each case is decided on a case by case basis after they have gathered all the facts from both the employer and the employee. However, I can tell you what the law says in general.

If an employee refuses a job change, then unless they can prove to the State that the change was either based on an unlawful act, or the job was unsuitable based on the employee's training, education and background, then they will not be eligible for unemployment if the employer lets them go because of the refusal. In other words, if the State determines that the job was "suitable" and not a product of unlawful acts, the claimant is not eligible for UI benefits. On the other hand if, for example, there was evidence that the Demotion either violated a written contract or was undertaken because the employee is a member of a protected class, then the refusal of the job would not disqualify the employee.

I can tell you though that if you refuse this job, and are terminated, your employer will likely dispute your eligibility for Unemployment Benefits and you will then have to appeal a denial and present your side of the facts to a Hearing Officer who will make a decision based on what I advised you of above.