II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3462 

To provide anti-retaliation protections for antitrust whistleblowers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 31, 2012 

Mr. LEAHY (for himself, Mr. GRASSLEY, and Mr. KOHL) 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’’. 

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 adding 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 person, or any officer, 

6 employee, contractor, subcontractor or agent of such 

7 person, may discharge, demote, suspend, threaten, 

8 harass, or in any other manner discriminate against 

9 a whistleblower in the terms and conditions of em10 ployment because— 

11 ‘‘(A) the whistleblower provided or caused 

12 to be provided to the person or the Federal 

13 Government information relating to— 

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

15 omission the whistleblower reasonably be16 lieves to be a violation of the antitrust 

17 laws; or 

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

19 omission the whistleblower reasonably be20 lieves to be a violation of another criminal 

21 law committed in conjunction with a poten22 tial violation of the antitrust laws or in 

23 conjunction with an investigation by the 

24 Department of Justice of a potential viola25 tion of the antitrust laws; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) the whistleblower filed, caused to be 

2 filed, testified, participated in, or otherwise as3 sisted an investigation or a proceeding filed or 

4 about to be filed (with any knowledge of the 

5 employer) relating to— 

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

7 omission the whistleblower reasonably be8 lieves to be a violation of the antitrust 

9 laws; or 

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

11 omission the whistleblower reasonably be12 lieves to be a violation of another criminal 

13 law committed in conjunction with a poten14 tial violation of the antitrust laws or in 

15 conjunction with an investigation by the 

16 Department of Justice of a potential viola17 tion of the antitrust laws. 

18 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON PROTECTIONS.—Para19 graph (1) shall not apply to any whistleblower if— 

20 ‘‘(A) the whistleblower planned and initi21 ated a violation or attempted violation of the 

22 antitrust laws; 

23 ‘‘(B) the whistleblower planned and initi24 ated a violation or attempted violation of an25 other criminal law in conjunction with a violaVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:36 Aug 02, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3462.IS S3462

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1 tion or attempted violation of the antitrust 

2 laws; or 

3 ‘‘(C) the whistleblower planned and initi4 ated an obstruction or attempted obstruction of 

5 an investigation by the Department of Justice 

6 of a violation of the antitrust laws. 

7 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In the section: 

8 ‘‘(A) PERSON.—The term ‘person’ has the 

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

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

11 ‘‘(B) ANTITRUST LAWS.—The term ‘anti12 trust laws’ means section 1 or 3 of the Sher13 man Act (15 U.S.C. 1, 3) or similar State law. 

14 ‘‘(C) WHISTLEBLOWER.—The term ‘whis15 tleblower’ means an employee, contractor, sub16 contractor, or agent protected from discrimina17 tion under paragraph (1). 

18 ‘‘(b) ENFORCEMENT ACTION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A whistleblower who alleges 

20 discharge or other discrimination by any person in 

21 violation of subsection (a) may seek relief under sub22 section (c) by— 

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

24 of Labor; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) if the Secretary has not issued a final 

2 decision within 180 days of the filing of the 

3 complaint and there is no showing that such 

4 delay is due to the bad faith of the claimant, 

5 bringing an action at law or equity for de novo 

6 review in the appropriate district court of the 

7 United States, which shall have jurisdiction 

8 over such an action without regard to the 

9 amount in controversy. 

10 ‘‘(2) PROCEDURE.— 

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

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

13 shall be governed under the rules and proce14 dures set forth in section 42121(b) of title 49, 

15 United States Code. 

16 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Notification made 

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

18 States Code, shall be made to the person named 

19 in the complaint and to the employer. 

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

21 filed with the Secretary of Labor under para22 graph (1) shall be governed by the legal bur23 dens of proof set forth in section 42121(b) of 

24 title 49, United States Code. 


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1 ‘‘(D) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—A com2 plaint under paragraph (1)(A) shall be filed 

3 with the Secretary of Labor not later than 180 

4 days after the date on which the violation oc5 curs. 

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

7 person fails to comply with an order or prelimi8 nary order issued by the Secretary of Labor 

9 pursuant to the procedures in section 42121(b), 

10 the Secretary of Labor or the person on whose 

11 behalf the order was issued may bring a civil 

12 action to enforce the order in the district court 

13 of the United States for the judicial district in 

14 which the violation occurred. 

15 ‘‘(c) REMEDIES.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A whistleblower prevailing 

17 in any action under subsection (b)(1) shall be enti18 tled to all relief necessary to make the whistleblower 

19 whole. 

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

21 action under paragraph (1) shall include— 

22 ‘‘(A) reinstatement with the same seniority 

23 status that the whistleblower would have had, 

24 but for the discrimination; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the amount of back pay, with inter2 est; and 

3 ‘‘(C) compensation for any special damages 

4 sustained as a result of the discrimination in5 cluding litigation costs, expert witness fees, and 

6 reasonable attorney’s fees. 

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

8 Nothing in this section shall be deemed to diminish the 

9 rights, privileges, or remedies of any whistleblower under 

10 any Federal or State law, or under any collective bar11 gaining agreement.’’. 

Æ 


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