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★ Colorado · head & brain

Head & brain settlements
in Colorado.

By Reviewed by Abd Shanti, Founder9 min read

The Colorado Supreme Court held in 2015 that a Denver hotel owed a duty of care when it threw out a drunk guest who then rode in a crash that left her in a persistent vegetative state. Brain injury claims also run through workers’ comp, as an engineer struck by a robotic arm found.

Facts that decide a head & brain claim in Colorado

Noneconomic damages cap$1,500,000 in civil actions filed on or after 1 January 2025 (other than malpractice and wrongful death), adjusted for inflation every two years from 2028.HB24-1472 (2024), amending C.R.S. § 13-21-102.5
Fault ruleModified comparative fault: your damages are cut by your share, and you recover only if your negligence was “not as great as the negligence of the person against whom recovery is sought.”C.R.S. § 13-21-111, as quoted in In re P.W. v. Children’s Hospital Colorado (Colo. 2016)
Deadline for car crash claimsThree years for “all tort actions for bodily injury or property damage arising out of the use or operation of a motor vehicle”; most other negligence claims have two years.C.R.S. §§ 13-80-101(1)(n)(I), 13-80-102(1)(a), as quoted in Nesjan v. J & A Distributing (Colo. App. 2025)
Claims against governmentWritten notice within 182 days of discovering the injury; for claims from 1 January 2026 the caps are $505,000 per person and $1,421,000 per occurrence.C.R.S. §§ 24-10-109, 24-10-114; see our notice table
united states · sister site
Your head & brain claim in Colorado. See the number for your own case.

FairSettlement gives you a free estimate for your own head & brain case in about two minutes, no cost and no obligation.

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★ CO · reported head & brain outcomes

What Colorado courts have awarded.

Real Colorado decisions and verdicts, each linked to the court record or official report.

  • Westin Operator v. Groh
    Colorado Supreme Court · 2015
    Summary judgment reversed; case goes to trial

    After a night out, Jillian Groh brought friends back to her room at the Westin in Denver. Security evicted the group even though they said they were drunk and could not drive, and a guard refused to let them wait in the lobby for a cab on a freezing night. Seven people left in Groh’s car with a drunk driver; the crash killed one man and left Groh in a persistent vegetative state with traumatic brain injuries. The Supreme Court held a hotel must use reasonable care when evicting a guest and affirmed that the claim could go forward.

  • Yeutter v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office
    Colorado Court of Appeals · 2019
    Permanent total disability denied; affirmed

    Joseph Yeutter, a controls engineer, was struck in the head and shoulder by a robotic arm in August 2012, suffering a skull fracture, inner ear nerve damage, a broken arm and fractures of both eye sockets. He went back to work, later took a new engineering job, and was diagnosed with narcolepsy his doctors called most likely post traumatic. The judge denied permanent total disability and ongoing medical benefits, and the court affirmed.

★ CO · head & brain · in practice

What changes the number here.

What actually moves a head & brain settlement in Colorado.

  1. 1

    Businesses that eject people can be liable for what follows. Groh’s case turned on the time, the weather and the guests’ condition.

  2. 2

    Working after a head injury can defeat a total disability claim, as Yeutter’s return to engineering work did.

  3. 3

    Pain and suffering is capped at $1.5 million for 2025 filings, but lifetime care costs are not.

★ CO · statute of limitations
2 years for personal injury; 3 years for motor vehicle

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-80-102

★ CO · fault rule
Modified comparative, 50% bar

Modified comparative, recovery barred at 50% claimant fault.

★ CO · caps

What caps recovery.

Statutory caps that may bear on a head & brain settlement in Colorado.

★ head & brain · same region & fault regime

Compare to like jurisdictions.

How Colorado's fault rule and limitation period compare to jurisdictions in the same US region and to those running the same fault rule for head & brain claims.

JurisdictionFault ruleLimitationHead & brain page
Colorado · you are hereModified comparative, 50% bar2 years for personal injury; 3 years for motor vehicle—
HawaiiModified comparative, 51% bar2 years from date of injuryHI · head & brain →
IdahoModified comparative, 50% bar2 years from date of injuryID · head & brain →
MontanaModified comparative, 51% bar3 years from date of injuryMT · head & brain →
NevadaModified comparative, 51% bar2 years for personal injury; 3 years for medical malpracticeNV · head & brain →
OregonModified comparative, 51% bar2 years from date of injuryOR · head & brain →
UtahModified comparative, 50% bar4 years for personal injury; 2 years for medical malpracticeUT · head & brain →
GeorgiaModified comparative, 50% bar2 years from date of injuryGA · head & brain →
KansasModified comparative, 50% bar2 years from date of injuryKS · head & brain →
MaineModified comparative, 50% bar6 years for personal injury, longest in the USME · head & brain →
NebraskaModified comparative, 50% bar4 years for personal injury; 2 years for medical malpracticeNE · head & brain →
ConnecticutModified comparative, 51% bar2 years from date of injuryCT · head & brain →
DelawareModified comparative, 51% bar2 years from date of injuryDE · head & brain →
★ CO · head & brain · frequently asked

Common questions.

Each answer is independently coherent and references the relevant statute or authority document.

united states · sister site
Hurt in a car crash in Colorado? See what your own claim could be worth.

FairSettlement, our US sister site, gives you a free estimate in about two minutes. No cost and no obligation.

Check my case

Sources

Checked 2026-09-29.

★ all of CO
Colorado overview

Fault rule, statute, caps, and key facts for Colorado as a whole.

★ national frame
Head & brain in United States

Head & brain band structure and severity tiers at the US level.

★ all 15 countries
Head & brain · everywhere

Cross-jurisdiction comparison of head & brain bands.

★ editorial note

Figures on this page are not quotes for any specific case. For representation, consult an attorney admitted in Colorado. See /methodology, /sources, and /disclaimer.