By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice
A congressional candidate is teaching workplace discrimination law to the public as Congress faces new harassment scrutiny and the EEOC operates with its smallest workforce in nearly half a century.
Patty McMahon spent her career at the EEOC’s Denver Field Office—training community groups, unions, businesses and educators on federal anti-discrimination law, serving as the office’s congressional liaison and public affairs officer, and holding special certification to deliver the agency’s “Respect in the Workplace” training. Now she’s taking that knowledge to library meeting rooms—four free workshops this month and next, open to anyone who shows up.
The sessions are called “Know Your Federal Employment Rights.” Each one covers what the law actually protects, who it covers and what a worker can do when it’s violated.
McMahon announced the workshops on May 5. That same day, Rep. Nancy Mace announced Congress had received settlement records from what she called a taxpayer-funded sexual harassment “slush fund”—subpoenaed documents showing more than $300,000 paid out on behalf of six former House members.
CNN independently reviewed the 1,000 pages and named the members. In a post on X, Mace wrote, “We will name all nine. We will release the full 1,000 pages—once we confirm that personally identifiable information of victims and witnesses has been properly redacted.”
The taxpayer-funded payouts were banned years ago. The records behind them largely stayed hidden.
McMahon connected those headlines to the workshops—but said what’s happening in Congress is only the surface.
“The scrutiny surrounding Eric Swalwell and the acknowledgment by leaders like Nancy Mace that workplace misconduct is a real problem have brought needed attention to this issue,” McMahon said.
Swalwell resigned last month amid sexual assault allegations he denies and an accompanying House Ethics Committee investigation.
“Harassment is not the only violation the law addresses,” McMahon said. “Federal protections are broader than most people realize, and workers deserve to understand exactly what those protections are—and what to do when they’re violated.”
That urgency has a practical dimension. When the EEOC opened its staffing records in 1980, it had 3,390 people on the job. It entered this fiscal year with 1,809—a drop of more than 360 workers in the past twelve months alone. It has never been this small.
Workers filed more than 88,000 discrimination charges last fiscal year—nearly identical to the year before, with 360 fewer people to handle them.
That’s the agency McMahon spent her career inside. Her workshops are aimed at workers—not employers.
The first session is May 12 at Smoky Hill Library in Centennial, running 3:30 to 5 p.m. Three more follow—May 18, June 1 and June 2. No cost to attend. Those interested in attending can register here: https://www.mcmahonforcongress.com/event-list.
The workshops are unfolding alongside another June deadline—Colorado’s congressional primaries.
Jason Crow is once again on the ballot in Colorado’s 6th Congressional District, where Democrats hold an 11-point edge. Crow has represented the district since 2019 and won re-election last cycle with 59 percent of the vote. Before the general election arrives, however, he still faces two challengers in the June 30 primary.
The Republican side is quieter. Mel Tewahade, an Ethiopian immigrant and Colorado small-business owner, is running unopposed.
McMahon is already past that. The Libertarian Party limited its primary to registered party members and had no contested congressional races, allowing her to leave the state convention as the party’s nominee. November is her next step.
The workshops are bringing McMahon into library meeting rooms across the district just months before voters decide who will represent them in Congress.
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