Denver employee who was suing the city is among those laid off

In an attempt to balance next year's budget, the city of Denver is laying off 171 employees and eliminating 665 other open positions, which is expected to free up $500,000 of the massive $200 million budget gap for next year.

One city employee who is in the middle of suing the city is one of those impacted by layoffs. Jessica Calderon spent decades working in the office of Social Equity and Innovation; now she's working to figure out the next steps.

"I'm feeling, obviously, a sense of loss, because I had a 21-year career," Calderon said.

Beyond her career, she also doesn't know the future of the projects she's worked on.

"It's heartbreaking because it took a lot of work to set the office up," Calderon said, "It's disappointing our residents need these services. They need them."

Calderon's layoff also comes in the middle of a lawsuit. Last summer, Calderon sued the city for political retaliation and discrimination, and now she says she's worried it factored into her losing her job.

"We we're all in shock and disbelief, and so I think we will be talking about what comes next, and a lot of us will be thinking of that, but right now, we're trying to take it all in, because I don't think anyone could have ever imagined that this is where we would be as a city," Calderon said.

And as she says her severance package would prevent her from future lawsuits with the city, she might not take it. All as she tries to figure out what's next.

"We are just connecting and being in support of one another in this situation, building a support network to help get through this," Calderon said.

President of the American Federation of State County Municipal Employees Union 158, Michael Wallin, says they're frustrated with the guidelines that determine layoff eligibility. Wallin also says they're working to host information sessions later this week with some city council members to help those who have been laid off navigate next steps. 

"I'm not feeling good about this. I mean... we'd rather see, you know, a healthy workforce with the city," Wallin said, "Those of us who are still at the city, our jobs are going to get a lot more complicated. We're going to be taking on more duties, more tasks to, you know, cover for those who are laid off, and to and to cover for those positions that we're going to be filled in the future, that those 600 jobs are not going to be full, so we've got a lot of work to ahead of us, and no help is coming."

CBS Colorado reached out to the city Tuesday night about Calderon's case specifically and will continue to share any updates as we follow this story.