The first head of Colorado’s Behavioral Health Administration filed a federal lawsuit this week seeking financial compensation and the return of her job because she alleges the state fired her because of her race.
Dr. Morgan Medlock, who is Black, was chief medical officer and director of crisis and emergency services in Washington, D.C., before coming to Colorado to serve as commissioner of the new Behavioral Health Administration in January 2022. She lost her job in April 2023.
Medlock sued in U.S. District Court on Tuesday, alleging the state, Gov. Jared Polis, Colorado Department of Human Services executive director Michelle Barnes and the governor’s former chief of staff, Alec Garnett, discriminated and retaliated against her.
Lawmakers created the BHA, which launched in 2022, to streamline mental health and addiction care in Colorado. Barnes temporarily headed the agency until the new commissioner, Dannette Smith, took over in March 2024. Smith is also Black.
Polis’ office and the BHA declined to comment Wednesday, citing the pending lawsuit. Barnes and Garnett couldn’t immediately be reached.
Medlock alleged that Barnes treated her “less favorably” than non-Black members of the governor’s cabinet, and incorrectly listed her as reporting to Barnes rather than to Polis in a Department of Human Services organization chart. She also said one of Barnes’ subordinates reprimanded her for the way she chaired a meeting, which she attributed to her identity as a Black woman.
An attorney for the governor’s office offered to investigate Medlock’s concerns about Barnes’ team, according to the lawsuit, but Medlock thought an internal investigation would be a distraction from trying to launch the BHA and declined to move forward.
Medlock also alleged:
- Barnes inappropriately reported her to the Colorado Attorney General’s Office after she complained about what she felt was discrimination
- Two of Medlock’s subordinates, who later resigned, proposed that she act only as the “public face” of the BHA while they ran the agency
- Another subordinate failed to intervene when a stakeholder used a racial slur in a meeting with Medlock, and later spread rumors about her
- Human resources didn’t include a “highly qualified” Black woman on its list of candidates to interview for the BHA’s chief of staff role, and Garnett said the role would be a “big jump” for that candidate
- Garnett mistreated her after she complained about a stakeholder harassing her online, and asked her to report to him instead of directly to Polis
- Garnett told her not to hire one of the two final candidates for the chief of staff role, both of whom were Black
Medlock filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in August 2023, alleging she lost her job because of a “racially hostile” environment. Some lawmakers countered that her firing was because the BHA was behind on work, and that providers and other stakeholders felt the new agency’s plans wouldn’t meet their needs.
Employees alleging workplace discrimination can only sue after the EEOC completes its investigation. Generally, the commission only releases information about a complaint if it finds evidence that an employer broke the law.
The legislature pushed back timelines to complete the BHA’s setup after Medlock’s departure. Some mental health providers said the initial timeline was unrealistic, which they thought created friction between state officials and stakeholders.
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