I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8226 

To provide anti-retaliation protections for antitrust whistleblowers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 

Mr. NEGUSE (for himself, Mr. NADLER, Mr. CICILLINE, and Mr. SENSENBRENNER) introduced the following bill; which was 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 2019’’. 

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 of any lawful act done 

10 by the covered individual— 

11 ‘‘(A) to provide or cause to be provided to 

12 the Federal Government or a person with su13 pervisory authority over the covered individual 

14 (or such other person working for the employer 

15 who has the authority to investigate, discover, 

16 or terminate misconduct) information relating 

17 to— 

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

19 omission the covered individual reasonably 

20 believes to be a violation of, the antitrust 

21 laws; or 

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

23 omission the covered individual reasonably 

24 believes to be a violation of, another crimi25 nal law committed in conjunction with a 

26 potential violation of the antitrust laws or 


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1 in conjunction with an investigation by the 

2 Department of Justice of a potential viola3 tion of the antitrust laws; or 

4 ‘‘(B) to cause to be filed, testify in, partici5 pate in, or otherwise assist a Federal Govern6 ment investigation or a Federal Government 

7 proceeding filed or about to be filed (with any 

8 knowledge of the employer) relating to— 

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

10 omission the covered individual reasonably 

11 believes to be a violation of, the antitrust 

12 laws; or 

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

14 omission the covered individual reasonably 

15 believes to be a violation of, another crimi16 nal law committed in conjunction with a 

17 potential violation of the antitrust laws or 

18 in conjunction with an investigation by the 

19 Department of Justice of a potential viola20 tion of the antitrust laws. 

21 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON PROTECTIONS.—Para22 graph (1) shall not apply to any covered individual 

23 if— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the covered individual planned and 

2 initiated a violation or attempted violation of 

3 the antitrust laws; 

4 ‘‘(B) the covered individual planned and 

5 initiated a violation or attempted violation of 

6 another criminal law in conjunction with a vio7 lation or attempted violation of the antitrust 

8 laws; or 

9 ‘‘(C) the covered individual planned and 

10 initiated an obstruction or attempted obstruc11 tion of an investigation by the Department of 

12 Justice of a violation of the antitrust laws. 

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

14 ‘‘(A) ANTITRUST LAWS.—The term ‘anti15 trust laws’ means section 1 or 3 of the Sher16 man Act (15 U.S.C. 1 and 3). 

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

18 ‘covered individual’ means an employee, con19 tractor, subcontractor, or agent of an employer. 

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

21 means a person, or any officer, employee, con22 tractor, subcontractor, or agent of such person. 

23 ‘‘(D) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 

24 ‘Federal Government’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a Federal regulatory or law en2 forcement agency; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) any Member of Congress or com4 mittee of Congress. 

5 ‘‘(E) PERSON.—The term ‘person’ has the 

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

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

8 ‘‘(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The term ‘vio9 lation’, with respect to the antitrust laws, shall not 

10 be construed to include a civil violation of any law 

11 that is not also a criminal violation. 

12 ‘‘(b) ENFORCEMENT ACTION.— 

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

14 alleges discharge or other discrimination by any em15 ployer in violation of subsection (a) may seek relief 

16 under subsection (c) by— 

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

18 of Labor; or 

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

20 issued a final decision within 180 days of the 

21 filing of the complaint and there is no showing 

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

23 claimant, bringing an action at law or equity 

24 for de novo review in the appropriate district 

25 court of the United States, which shall have juVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:26 Sep 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8226.IH H8226

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1 risdiction over such an action without regard to 

2 the amount in controversy. 

3 ‘‘(2) PROCEDURE.— 

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

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

6 shall be governed under the rules and proce7 dures set forth in section 42121(b) of title 49, 

8 United States Code. 

9 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Notification made 

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

11 States Code, shall be made to any individual 

12 named in the complaint and to the employer. 

13 ‘‘(C) BURDENS OF PROOF.—An action 

14 brought under paragraph (1)(B) shall be gov15 erned by the legal burdens of proof set forth in 

16 section 42121(b) of title 49, United States 

17 Code. 

18 ‘‘(D) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—A com19 plaint under paragraph (1)(A) shall be filed 

20 with the Secretary of Labor not later than 180 

21 days after the date on which the violation oc22 curs. 

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

24 person fails to comply with an order or prelimi25 nary order issued by the Secretary of Labor 


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1 pursuant to the procedures set forth in section 

2 42121(b) of title 49, United States Code, the 

3 Secretary of Labor or the person on whose be4 half the order was issued may bring a civil ac5 tion to enforce the order in the district court of 

6 the United States for the judicial district in 

7 which the violation occurred. 

8 ‘‘(c) REMEDIES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered individual pre10 vailing in any action under subsection (b)(1) shall be 

11 entitled to all relief necessary to make the covered 

12 individual whole. 

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

14 action under paragraph (1) shall include— 

15 ‘‘(A) reinstatement with the same seniority 

16 status that the covered individual would have 

17 had, but for the discrimination; 

18 ‘‘(B) the amount of back pay, with inter19 est; and 

20 ‘‘(C) compensation for any special damages 

21 sustained as a result of the discrimination in22 cluding litigation costs, expert witness fees, and 

23 reasonable attorney’s fees. 

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

25 Nothing in this section shall be deemed to diminish the 


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1 rights, privileges, or remedies of any covered individual 

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

3 bargaining agreement.’’. 

Æ 


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