I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2311 

To protect employees from retaliation in the workplace based on actions 

taken to protest or try to improve working conditions. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 11, 2013 

Mr. GRAYSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To protect employees from retaliation in the workplace based 

on actions taken to protest or try to improve working 

conditions. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Worker Anti-Retalia5 tion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘employer’’ means any entity 

9 that— 

10 (A) employs employees; and 


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1 (B) whose annual gross revenue when 

2 added to the annual gross revenue of its parent 

3 corporation and all of its affiliated corporations 

4 exceeds $5,000,000 (exclusive of excise taxes at 

5 the retail level that are separately stated); 

6 (2) the term ‘‘employee’’ means the common7 law employees of an employer; 

8 (3) the term ‘‘parent corporation’’ means any 

9 corporation that owns or controls at least 51 percent 

10 of the voting shares or other equity in the employer 

11 or an affiliated corporation; and 

12 (4) the term ‘‘affiliated corporation’’ means any 

13 corporation that shares a common parent corpora14 tion with an employer. 

15 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON RETALIATION AGAINST EMPLOY16 EES. 

17 No employer, or any of its agents, may discharge or 

18 cause to be discharged or in any other manner discrimi19 nate against or take or threaten any adverse action, in20 cluding changes in working assignments or conditions, any 

21 employee because the employee— 

22 (1) disseminated any message on the employer’s 

23 property or elsewhere, including through images, 

24 handbilling, picketing, work stoppages, or gathering 

25 in groups to protest conflicts with employers or to 


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1 help persuade employers to change working condi2 tions, provided the employees do not have a rep3 resentative for the purpose of collective bargaining 

4 and the employee’s actions— 

5 (A) were not taken during work time, ex6 cept during a lawful work stoppage; 

7 (B) were peaceful; and 

8 (C) did not destroy or damage property of 

9 the employer or block entrances or exits of the 

10 employer or otherwise impede the operations of 

11 the employer or the work of other employees; or 

12 (2) planned any of the actions described in 

13 paragraph (1), or assisted, encouraged, or supported 

14 another employee in engaging in any such actions. 

15 SEC. 4. PRESUMPTION OF UNLAWFUL ACTS. 

16 Any adverse action described in section 3, levied 

17 against an employee engaging in lawful actions within 90 

18 days of the date of the employee’s activity, shall be pre19 sumed unlawful and may only be rebutted by clear and 

20 convincing evidence proving adverse actions were taken for 

21 lawful reasons. 

22 SEC. 5. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any employee who believes that 

24 he or she has been discharged, disciplined, or otherwise 

25 discriminated against by an employer or any of its agents, 


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1 whether the agent was operating within the scope of em2 ployment or without, in violation of section 3 (or any class 

3 of such employees) may bring an action in a court of com4 petent jurisdiction against either the employer or the of5 fending agent, in an individual capacity, for any of the 

6 following: 

7 (1) to enjoin such violation; 

8 (2) to recover any pay, backpay, damages, or 

9 other amounts as settlement, plus an amount equal 

10 to three times the amount of such backpay and dam11 ages and reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses; or 

12 (3) to recover civil penalties of $1,000 per viola13 tion, per affected employee, per day. 

14 (b) LIMITATION.—An action brought under sub15 section (a) may not be brought later than 3 years after 

16 the affected employee knows or should have known of the 

17 violation. 

18 SEC. 6. RESTRICTION ON EMPLOYER OF AN EMPLOYEE 

19 FOUND TO BE IN VIOLATION OF THIS ACT. 

20 No employer may provide for an employee’s defense, 

21 backpay, damages, or settlement if that employee is found 

22 to be in violation of section 3 of this Act. 

23 SEC. 7. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

24 This Act shall be liberally construed to effectuate its 

25 purposes. If any court finds any provision or application 


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1 of this Act to be invalid or inoperative, in whole or in part, 

2 the remaining provisions of this Act shall remain in effect. 

3 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

4 This Act shall take effect 30 days after the date of 

5 enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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