116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2258 

AN ACT 

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, 
2 

†S 2258 ES

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Criminal Antitrust 

3 Anti-Retaliation Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO ACPERA. 

5 The Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and 

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

7 note) is amended by inserting after section 215 the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 216. ANTI-RETALIATION PROTECTION FOR WHISTLE10 BLOWERS. 

11 ‘‘(a) WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS FOR EMPLOY12 EES, CONTRACTORS, SUBCONTRACTORS, AND AGENTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No employer may dis14 charge, demote, suspend, threaten, harass, or in any 

15 other manner discriminate against a covered indi16 vidual in the terms and conditions of employment of 

17 the covered individual because of any lawful act done 

18 by the covered individual— 

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

20 the Federal Government or a person with su21 pervisory authority over the covered individual 

22 (or such other person working for the employer 

23 who has the authority to investigate, discover, 

24 or terminate misconduct) information relating 

25 to— 
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1 ‘‘(i) any violation of, or any act or 

2 omission the covered individual reasonably 

3 believes to be a violation of, the antitrust 

4 laws; or 

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

6 omission the covered individual reasonably 

7 believes to be a violation of, another crimi8 nal law committed in conjunction with a 

9 potential violation of the antitrust laws or 

10 in conjunction with an investigation by the 

11 Department of Justice of a potential viola12 tion of the antitrust laws; or 

13 ‘‘(B) to cause to be filed, testify in, partici14 pate in, or otherwise assist a Federal Govern15 ment investigation or a Federal Government 

16 proceeding filed or about to be filed (with any 

17 knowledge of the employer) relating 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 
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1 potential violation of the antitrust laws or 

2 in conjunction with an investigation by the 

3 Department of Justice of a potential viola4 tion of the antitrust laws. 

5 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON PROTECTIONS.—Para6 graph (1) shall not apply to any covered individual 

7 if— 

8 ‘‘(A) the covered individual planned and 

9 initiated a violation or attempted violation of 

10 the antitrust laws; 

11 ‘‘(B) the covered individual planned and 

12 initiated a violation or attempted violation of 

13 another criminal law in conjunction with a vio14 lation or attempted violation of the antitrust 

15 laws; or 

16 ‘‘(C) the covered individual planned and 

17 initiated an obstruction or attempted obstruc18 tion of an investigation by the Department of 

19 Justice of a violation of the antitrust laws. 

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

21 ‘‘(A) ANTITRUST LAWS.—The term ‘anti22 trust laws’ means section 1 or 3 of the Sher23 man Act (15 U.S.C. 1 and 3). 
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1 ‘‘(B) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term 

2 ‘covered individual’ means an employee, con3 tractor, subcontractor, or agent of an employer. 

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

5 means a person, or any officer, employee, con6 tractor, subcontractor, or agent of such person. 

7 ‘‘(D) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 

8 ‘Federal Government’ means— 

9 ‘‘(i) a Federal regulatory or law en10 forcement agency; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) any Member of Congress or com12 mittee of Congress. 

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

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

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

16 ‘‘(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The term ‘vio17 lation’, with respect to the antitrust laws, shall not 

18 be construed to include a civil violation of any law 

19 that is not also a criminal violation. 

20 ‘‘(b) ENFORCEMENT ACTION.— 

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

22 alleges discharge or other discrimination by any em23 ployer in violation of subsection (a) may seek relief 

24 under subsection (c) by— 
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1 ‘‘(A) filing a complaint with the Secretary 

2 of Labor; or 

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

4 issued a final decision within 180 days of the 

5 filing of the complaint and there is no showing 

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

7 claimant, bringing an action at law or equity 

8 for de novo review in the appropriate district 

9 court of the United States, which shall have ju10 risdiction over such an action without regard to 

11 the amount in controversy. 

12 ‘‘(2) PROCEDURE.— 

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

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

15 shall be governed under the rules and proce16 dures set forth in section 42121(b) of title 49, 

17 United States Code. 

18 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Notification made 

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

20 States Code, shall be made to any individual 

21 named in the complaint and to the employer. 

22 ‘‘(C) BURDENS OF PROOF.—An action 

23 brought under paragraph (1)(B) shall be gov24 erned by the legal burdens of proof set forth in 
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1 section 42121(b) of title 49, United States 

2 Code. 

3 ‘‘(D) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—A com4 plaint under paragraph (1)(A) shall be filed 

5 with the Secretary of Labor not later than 180 

6 days after the date on which the violation oc7 curs. 

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

9 person fails to comply with an order or prelimi10 nary order issued by the Secretary of Labor 

11 pursuant to the procedures set forth in section 

12 42121(b) of title 49, United States Code, the 

13 Secretary of Labor or the person on whose be14 half the order was issued may bring a civil ac15 tion to enforce the order in the district court of 

16 the United States for the judicial district in 

17 which the violation occurred. 

18 ‘‘(c) REMEDIES.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered individual pre20 vailing in any action under subsection (b)(1) shall be 

21 entitled to all relief necessary to make the covered 

22 individual whole. 

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

24 action under paragraph (1) shall include— 
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1 ‘‘(A) reinstatement with the same seniority 

2 status that the covered individual would have 

3 had, but for the discrimination; 

4 ‘‘(B) the amount of back pay, with inter5 est; and 

6 ‘‘(C) compensation for any special damages 

7 sustained as a result of the discrimination in8 cluding litigation costs, expert witness fees, and 

9 reasonable attorney’s fees. 

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

11 Nothing in this section shall be deemed to diminish the 

12 rights, privileges, or remedies of any covered individual 

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

14 bargaining agreement.’’. 

Passed the Senate October 17, 2019. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2258 

AN ACT 

To provide anti-retaliation protections for antitrust 

whistleblowers.