II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1599 

To provide anti-retaliation protections for antitrust whistleblowers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 17, 2015 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself and Mr. LEAHY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide anti-retaliation protections for antitrust 

whistleblowers. 

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 ‘‘Criminal Antitrust 

5 Anti-Retaliation Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO ACPERA. 

7 The Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and 

8 Reform Act of 2004 (Public Law 108–237; 15 U.S.C. 1 

9 note) is amended by inserting after section 215 the fol10 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 216. ANTI-RETALIATION PROTECTION FOR WHISTLE2 BLOWERS. 

3 ‘‘(a) WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS FOR EMPLOY4 EES, CONTRACTORS, SUBCONTRACTORS, AND AGENTS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No employer may dis6 charge, demote, suspend, threaten, harass, or in any 

7 other manner discriminate against a covered indi8 vidual in the terms and conditions of employment of 

9 the covered individual because— 

10 ‘‘(A) the covered individual provided or 

11 caused to be provided to the employer or the 

12 Federal Government information relating to— 

13 ‘‘(i) any violation of, or any act or 

14 omission the covered individual reasonably 

15 believes to be a violation of, the antitrust 

16 laws; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) any violation of, or any act or 

18 omission the covered individual reasonably 

19 believes to be a violation of, another crimi20 nal law committed in conjunction with a 

21 potential violation of the antitrust laws or 

22 in conjunction with an investigation by the 

23 Department of Justice of a potential viola24 tion of the antitrust laws; or 

25 ‘‘(B) the covered individual filed, caused to 

26 be filed, testified, participated in, or otherwise 


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1 assisted an investigation or a proceeding filed 

2 or about to be filed (with any knowledge of the 

3 employer) relating to— 

4 ‘‘(i) any violation of, or any act or 

5 omission the covered individual reasonably 

6 believes to be a violation of, the antitrust 

7 laws; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) any violation of, or any act or 

9 omission the covered individual reasonably 

10 believes to be a violation of, another crimi11 nal law committed in conjunction with a 

12 potential violation of the antitrust laws or 

13 in conjunction with an investigation by the 

14 Department of Justice of a potential viola15 tion of the antitrust laws. 

16 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON PROTECTIONS.—Para17 graph (1) shall not apply to any covered individual 

18 if— 

19 ‘‘(A) the covered individual planned and 

20 initiated a violation or attempted violation of 

21 the antitrust laws; 

22 ‘‘(B) the covered individual planned and 

23 initiated a violation or attempted violation of 

24 another criminal law in conjunction with a vioVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 20, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1599.IS S1599

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1 lation or attempted violation of the antitrust 

2 laws; or 

3 ‘‘(C) the covered individual planned and 

4 initiated an obstruction or attempted obstruc5 tion of an investigation by the Department of 

6 Justice of a violation of the antitrust laws. 

7 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 ‘‘(A) ANTITRUST LAWS.—The term ‘anti9 trust laws’ means section 1 or 3 of the Sher10 man Act (15 U.S.C. 1 and 3). 

11 ‘‘(B) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term 

12 ‘covered individual’ means an employee, con13 tractor, subcontractor, or agent of an employer. 

14 ‘‘(C) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘employer’ 

15 means a person, or any officer, employee, con16 tractor, subcontractor, or agent of such person. 

17 ‘‘(D) PERSON.—The term ‘person’ has the 

18 same meaning as in subsection (a) of the first 

19 section of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12(a)). 

20 ‘‘(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The term ‘vio21 lation’, with respect to the antitrust laws, shall not 

22 be construed to include a civil violation of any law 

23 that is not also a criminal violation. 

24 ‘‘(b) ENFORCEMENT ACTION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered individual who 

2 alleges discharge or other discrimination by any em3 ployer in violation of subsection (a) may seek relief 

4 under subsection (c) by— 

5 ‘‘(A) filing a complaint with the Secretary 

6 of Labor; or 

7 ‘‘(B) if the Secretary of Labor has not 

8 issued a final decision within 180 days of the 

9 filing of the complaint and there is no showing 

10 that such delay is due to the bad faith of the 

11 claimant, bringing an action at law or equity 

12 for de novo review in the appropriate district 

13 court of the United States, which shall have ju14 risdiction over such an action without regard to 

15 the amount in controversy. 

16 ‘‘(2) PROCEDURE.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A complaint filed with 

18 the Secretary of Labor under paragraph (1)(A) 

19 shall be governed under the rules and proce20 dures set forth in section 42121(b) of title 49, 

21 United States Code. 

22 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Notification made 

23 under section 42121(b)(1) of title 49, United 

24 States Code, shall be made to any individual 

25 named in the complaint and to the employer. 


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1 ‘‘(C) BURDENS OF PROOF.—A complaint 

2 filed with the Secretary of Labor under para3 graph (1)(A) shall be governed by the legal bur4 dens of proof set forth in section 42121(b) of 

5 title 49, United States Code. 

6 ‘‘(D) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—A com7 plaint under paragraph (1)(A) shall be filed 

8 with the Secretary of Labor not later than 180 

9 days after the date on which the violation oc10 curs. 

11 ‘‘(E) CIVIL ACTIONS TO ENFORCE.—If a 

12 person fails to comply with an order or prelimi13 nary order issued by the Secretary of Labor 

14 pursuant to the procedures set forth in section 

15 42121(b) of title 49, United States Code, the 

16 Secretary of Labor or the person on whose be17 half the order was issued may bring a civil ac18 tion to enforce the order in the district court of 

19 the United States for the judicial district in 

20 which the violation occurred. 

21 ‘‘(c) REMEDIES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered individual pre23 vailing in any action under subsection (b)(1) shall be 

24 entitled to all relief necessary to make the covered 

25 individual whole. 


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1 ‘‘(2) COMPENSATORY DAMAGES.—Relief for any 

2 action under paragraph (1) shall include— 

3 ‘‘(A) reinstatement with the same seniority 

4 status that the covered individual would have 

5 had, but for the discrimination; 

6 ‘‘(B) the amount of back pay, with inter7 est; and 

8 ‘‘(C) compensation for any special damages 

9 sustained as a result of the discrimination in10 cluding litigation costs, expert witness fees, and 

11 reasonable attorney’s fees. 

12 ‘‘(d) RIGHTS RETAINED BY WHISTLEBLOWERS.— 

13 Nothing in this section shall be deemed to diminish the 

14 rights, privileges, or remedies of any covered individual 

15 under any Federal or State law, or under any collective 

16 bargaining agreement.’’. 

Æ 


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