II 

Calendar No. 163 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2258 

To provide anti-retaliation protections for antitrust whistleblowers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 24, 2019 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. COONS, and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill; which was read the first time 

JULY 25, 2019 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO ACPERA. 

2 The Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and 

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

4 note) is amended by inserting after section 215 the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 216. ANTI-RETALIATION PROTECTION FOR WHISTLE7 BLOWERS. 

8 ‘‘(a) WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS FOR EMPLOY9 EES, CONTRACTORS, SUBCONTRACTORS, AND AGENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No employer may dis11 charge, demote, suspend, threaten, harass, or in any 

12 other manner discriminate against a covered indi13 vidual in the terms and conditions of employment of 

14 the covered individual because of any lawful act done 

15 by the covered individual— 

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

17 the Federal Government or a person with su18 pervisory authority over the covered individual 

19 (or such other person working for the employer 

20 who has the authority to investigate, discover, 

21 or terminate misconduct) information relating 

22 to— 

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

24 omission the covered individual reasonably 

25 believes to be a violation of, the antitrust 

26 laws; or 


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

2 omission the covered individual reasonably 

3 believes to be a violation of, another crimi4 nal law committed in conjunction with a 

5 potential violation of the antitrust laws or 

6 in conjunction with an investigation by the 

7 Department of Justice of a potential viola8 tion of the antitrust laws; or 

9 ‘‘(B) to cause to be filed, testify in, partici10 pate in, or otherwise assist a Federal Govern11 ment investigation or a Federal Government 

12 proceeding filed or about to be filed (with any 

13 knowledge of the employer) relating to— 

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

15 omission the covered individual reasonably 

16 believes to be a violation of, the antitrust 

17 laws; or 

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

19 omission the covered individual reasonably 

20 believes to be a violation of, another crimi21 nal law committed in conjunction with a 

22 potential violation of the antitrust laws or 

23 in conjunction with an investigation by the 

24 Department of Justice of a potential viola25 tion of the antitrust laws. 


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1 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON PROTECTIONS.—Para2 graph (1) shall not apply to any covered individual 

3 if— 

4 ‘‘(A) the covered individual planned and 

5 initiated a violation or attempted violation of 

6 the antitrust laws; 

7 ‘‘(B) the covered individual planned and 

8 initiated a violation or attempted violation of 

9 another criminal law in conjunction with a vio10 lation or attempted violation of the antitrust 

11 laws; or 

12 ‘‘(C) the covered individual planned and 

13 initiated an obstruction or attempted obstruc14 tion of an investigation by the Department of 

15 Justice of a violation of the antitrust laws. 

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

17 ‘‘(A) ANTITRUST LAWS.—The term ‘anti18 trust laws’ means section 1 or 3 of the Sher19 man Act (15 U.S.C. 1 and 3). 

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

21 ‘covered individual’ means an employee, con22 tractor, subcontractor, or agent of an employer. 

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

24 means a person, or any officer, employee, con25 tractor, subcontractor, or agent of such person. 


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1 ‘‘(D) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 

2 ‘Federal Government’ means— 

3 ‘‘(i) a Federal regulatory or law en4 forcement agency; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) any Member of Congress or com6 mittee of Congress. 

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

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

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

10 ‘‘(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The term ‘vio11 lation’, with respect to the antitrust laws, shall not 

12 be construed to include a civil violation of any law 

13 that is not also a criminal violation. 

14 ‘‘(b) ENFORCEMENT ACTION.— 

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

16 alleges discharge or other discrimination by any em17 ployer in violation of subsection (a) may seek relief 

18 under subsection (c) by— 

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

20 of Labor; or 

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

22 issued a final decision within 180 days of the 

23 filing of the complaint and there is no showing 

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

25 claimant, bringing an action at law or equity 


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1 for de novo review in the appropriate district 

2 court of the United States, which shall have ju3 risdiction over such an action without regard to 

4 the amount in controversy. 

5 ‘‘(2) PROCEDURE.— 

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

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

8 shall be governed under the rules and proce9 dures set forth in section 42121(b) of title 49, 

10 United States Code. 

11 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Notification made 

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

13 States Code, shall be made to any individual 

14 named in the complaint and to the employer. 

15 ‘‘(C) BURDENS OF PROOF.—An action 

16 brought under paragraph (1)(B) shall be gov17 erned by the legal burdens of proof set forth in 

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

19 Code. 

20 ‘‘(D) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—A com21 plaint under paragraph (1)(A) shall be filed 

22 with the Secretary of Labor not later than 180 

23 days after the date on which the violation oc24 curs. 


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

2 person fails to comply with an order or prelimi3 nary order issued by the Secretary of Labor 

4 pursuant to the procedures set forth in section 

5 42121(b) of title 49, United States Code, the 

6 Secretary of Labor or the person on whose be7 half the order was issued may bring a civil ac8 tion to enforce the order in the district court of 

9 the United States for the judicial district in 

10 which the violation occurred. 

11 ‘‘(c) REMEDIES.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered individual pre13 vailing in any action under subsection (b)(1) shall be 

14 entitled to all relief necessary to make the covered 

15 individual whole. 

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

17 action under paragraph (1) shall include— 

18 ‘‘(A) reinstatement with the same seniority 

19 status that the covered individual would have 

20 had, but for the discrimination; 

21 ‘‘(B) the amount of back pay, with inter22 est; and 

23 ‘‘(C) compensation for any special damages 

24 sustained as a result of the discrimination inVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:51 Jul 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2258.PCS S2258

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1 cluding litigation costs, expert witness fees, and 

2 reasonable attorney’s fees. 

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

4 Nothing in this section shall be deemed to diminish the 

5 rights, privileges, or remedies of any covered individual 

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

7 bargaining agreement.’’. 


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Calendar No. 163 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2258 

A BILL 

To provide anti-retaliation protections for antitrust 

whistleblowers. 

JULY 25, 2019 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 


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