Opinion ID: 1420198
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Equal Protection Standard

Text: Having summarized our holding and rationale, we proceed with our equal protection analysis. We first turn to the legal standards governing our review of Petitioners' constitutional challenge to the offset provision. The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that, [n]o state ... shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. U.S. Const. amend. XIV. Similarly, the Colorado Constitution affords an equivalent level of equal protection through Article II, Section 25, of the Colorado Constitution. See Western Metal Lath, Ltd. v. Acoustical & Constr. Supply, Inc., 851 P.2d 875, 880 (Colo.1993). Under equal protection law, judicial scrutiny of a statute varies according to the type of classification involved and the nature of the right affected. See Pace Membership Warehouse v. Axelson, 938 P.2d 504, 506 (Colo.1997). The rational basis standard of review applies when a legislative classification does not involve a suspect class or abridgement of a fundamental right triggering strict scrutiny and also when the classification does not trigger an intermediate standard of review. See id.; Romero, 912 P.2d at 66. Receipt of workers' compensation benefits is not a fundamental right. See Romero, 912 P.2d at 66; Duran v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office, 883 P.2d 477, 482 (Colo.1994). Moreover, strict scrutiny and intermediate review are not applicable to classifications based on age. See Massachusetts Bd. of Retirement v. Murgia, 427 U.S. 307, 313-14, 96 S.Ct. 2562, 49 L.Ed.2d 520 (1976). Because the constitutional challenge here involves a workers' compensation statute that makes distinctions based on age, severity of injury, and types and amount of benefits payable, we apply the rational basis standard of review.