I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5775 

To amend the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act to provide 

for specified civil penalties for violations of that Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 10, 2008 

Mr. SESSIONS (for himself, Mr. BROUN of Georgia, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. KING of Iowa, Ms. FALLIN, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. CAMPBELL

of California, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. KLINE of Minnesota, Mr. ISSA, Mr. 

LAMBORN, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. SOUDER, and Mr. FLAKE) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure 

Act to provide for specified civil penalties for violations 

of that Act, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Labor Management 

5 Reporting and Disclosure Enforcement Act of 2008’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CIVIL MONEY PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO PRO2 VIDE INFORMATION TO MEMBERS. 

3 Section 201 of the Labor-Management Reporting and 

4 Disclosure Act (29 U.S.C. 431), is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub6 section (c)(1); and 

7 (2) by inserting thereafter the following: 

8 ‘‘(2) Any labor organization that fails to meet the re9 quirements of paragraph (1) with respect to a member, 

10 by refusing to make available the information required to 

11 be contained in a report required to be submitted under 

12 this subchapter, and any books, records, and accounts nec13 essary to verify such report (unless such failure or refusal 

14 results from matters reasonably beyond the control of the 

15 labor organization) may in the court’s discretion, and in 

16 addition to any other relief provided by law, be liable to 

17 such member in the amount of up to $250 a day from 

18 the date of such failure or refusal, and the court may in 

19 its discretion order such other relief as it deems proper. 

20 For purposes of this paragraph, each violation with re21 spect to any single member shall be treated as a separate 

22 violation.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. CIVIL MONEY PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO FILE A 

2 TIMELY REPORT. 

3 Section 210 of the Labor-Management Reporting and 

4 Disclosure Act (29 U.S.C. 440) is amended to read as fol5 lows: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 210. CIVIL ENFORCEMENT. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Whenever it shall appear that 

8 any person has violated or is about to violate any of the 

9 provisions of this title, or section 301(a), the Secretary 

10 may bring a civil action for such relief, including an in11 junction and enforcement of administrative penalties im12 posed pursuant to section 211, as may be appropriate. 

13 Any such action may be brought in the district court of 

14 the United States where the violation occurred or in the 

15 United States District Court for the District of Columbia. 

16 ‘‘(b) SCOPE OF REVIEW.—Upon a complaint filed by 

17 the Secretary seeking relief under this section, the district 

18 court shall impose the civil money penalty that has been 

19 determined to be appropriate by the Secretary provided 

20 the person, labor organization, or employer against whom 

21 the relief is sought has been given written notice and af22 forded an opportunity to be heard before the Secretary 

23 or a designee under procedures established by the Sec24 retary pursuant to section 211. Such penalty shall not be 

25 imposed by the court if the Secretary’s determination is 

26 shown to be arbitrary and capricious. The court shall not 


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1 consider any objection or argument that was not raised 

2 in the proceedings before the Secretary. 

3 ‘‘(c) APPROPRIATENESS OF INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.— 

4 Upon a complaint filed by the Secretary seeking relief 

5 under this section demonstrating that a person, labor or6 ganization, or employer has failed to file timely and com7 plete reports required by the statute, or has filed reports 

8 that are substantially incomplete or inaccurate, or that in9 formation required to be reported may be lost or destroyed 

10 absent such relief, the district court shall issue an order 

11 enjoining continued violation of this title. Injunctive relief 

12 may be awarded in addition to any other additional civil 

13 or criminal remedy and whether or not the Secretary seeks 

14 enforcement of an administratively imposed civil money 

15 penalty.’’. 

16 SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE CIVIL 

17 MONEY PENALTIES. 

18 Title II of the Labor-Management Reporting and 

19 Disclosure Act (29 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended— 

20 (1) by redesignating section 211 as section 212; 

21 and 

22 (2) by inserting after section 210 the following: 

23 ‘‘SEC. 211. CIVIL MONEY PENALTIES. 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, upon finding a 

25 violation of section 201(a), 201(b), 202, 203, 207, 212, 


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1 or 301(a), may assess against the person, labor organiza2 tion or employer responsible for such violation a civil 

3 money penalty of up to $250 a day from the date of the 

4 violation. The amount of this penalty shall be adjusted in 

5 accordance with the inflation adjustment procedures pre6 scribed in the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment 

7 Act of 1990, as amended. 

8 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—No person, labor organization or 

9 employer shall be required to pay a penalty under this 

10 paragraph for any violation a material cause of which was 

11 reasonably beyond the control of that person, labor organi12 zation or employer. 

13 ‘‘(c) INCOMPLETE REPORTS.—A report rejected by 

14 the Secretary as incomplete shall be considered not filed 

15 for purposes of determining whether there has been a vio16 lation of section 201(a), 201(b), 202, 203, 207, 212, or 

17 301(a) and a penalty may be assessed for such a violation. 

18 ‘‘(d) MAXIMUM PENALTY.—A penalty imposed for a 

19 violation under this section, as determined by the Sec20 retary, may not exceed $250 a day or $10,000 in aggre21 gate, as adjusted in accordance with the inflation adjust22 ment procedures prescribed in the Federal Civil Penalties 

23 Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended. 

24 ‘‘(e) EFFECT ON CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—The impo25 sition of civil money penalties under this section shall not 


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1 affect the availability of criminal sanctions against any 

2 person who knowingly or willfully violates a provision of 

3 this Act. 

4 ‘‘(f) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES.—The Secretary 

5 shall establish standards and procedures governing the im6 position of civil money penalties under subsection (a). 

7 Such standards and procedures shall— 

8 ‘‘(1) provide for written notice to the person or 

9 entity alleged to have violated section 201(a), 

10 201(b), 202, 203, 207, 212, or 301(a) and an oppor11 tunity to be heard before the Secretary or a des12 ignee; and 

13 ‘‘(2) be established by the Secretary pursuant 

14 to sections 208 and 606. 

15 ‘‘(g) FACTORS IN DETERMINING AMOUNT OF PEN16 ALTY.—In determining the amount of a penalty under 

17 subsection (a), consideration may be given to such factors 

18 as the gravity of the offense, any history of prior offenses 

19 (including offenses occurring before enactment of this sec20 tion), ability to pay the penalty without material impair21 ment of the ability to carry out representational functions 

22 or to honor other financial obligations, injury to unin23 volved members of the labor organization, injury to the 

24 public, benefits received from the violation, deterrence of 


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1 future violations, and such other factors as the Secretary 

2 may determine to be appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(h) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—After exhausting all admin5 istrative remedies established by the Secretary under 

6 subsection (f), a person, labor organization, or em7 ployer against whom the Secretary has imposed a 

8 civil money penalty under subsection (a) may obtain 

9 a review of the penalty in the United States District 

10 Court where the violation occurred or in the United 

11 States District Court for the District of Columbia, 

12 by filing in such court, within 30 days of the entry 

13 of a final order imposing such a penalty, a written 

14 petition that the Secretary’s order or determination 

15 be modified or be set aside in whole or in part. 

16 ‘‘(2) STANDARD.—Upon petition for review of a 

17 penalty by a party against whom such a penalty has 

18 been ordered, the district court shall impose the civil 

19 money penalty determined to be appropriate by the 

20 Secretary, provided the person, labor organization, 

21 or employer against whom the relief is sought has 

22 been given written notice and afforded an oppor23 tunity to be heard before the Secretary or a designee 

24 under procedures established by the Secretary pur25 suant to section 211, unless the Secretary’s deterVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:51 Apr 12, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5775.IH H5775

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1 mination is shown to be arbitrary and capricious. 

2 The court shall not consider any objection or argu3 ment that was not raised before the Secretary. 

4 ‘‘(i) SETTLEMENT BY SECRETARY.—The Secretary 

5 may compromise, modify, or remit any civil money penalty 

6 that may be, or has been, imposed under this section.’’. 

7 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

8 The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure 

9 Act is further amended— 

10 (1) in section 205 (29 U.S.C. 435), by striking 

11 ‘‘211’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘212’’; 

12 (2) in section 207(b) (29 U.S.C. 437(b)), by 

13 striking ‘‘211’’ each place it appears and inserting 

14 ‘‘212’’; and 

15 (3) in section 301(b) (29 U.S.C. 461(b)), by 

16 striking ‘‘and 210’’ and inserting ‘‘210 and 211’’. 

Æ 


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