113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 42 

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, 
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†S 42 ES

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 Anti-Retaliation Act of 2013’’. 

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 adding 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— 

18 ‘‘(A) the covered individual provided or 

19 caused to be provided to the employer or the 

20 Federal Government information relating to— 

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

22 omission the covered individual reasonably 

23 believes to be a violation of the antitrust 

24 laws; or 

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

26 omission the covered individual reasonably 
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1 believes to be a violation of another crimi2 nal law committed in conjunction with a 

3 potential violation of the antitrust laws or 

4 in conjunction with an investigation by the 

5 Department of Justice of a potential viola6 tion of the antitrust laws; or 

7 ‘‘(B) the covered individual filed, caused to 

8 be filed, testified, participated in, or otherwise 

9 assisted an investigation or a proceeding filed 

10 or about to be filed (with any knowledge of the 

11 employer) relating to— 

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

13 omission the covered individual reasonably 

14 believes to be a violation of the antitrust 

15 laws; or 

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

17 omission the covered individual reasonably 

18 believes to be a violation of another crimi19 nal law committed in conjunction with a 

20 potential violation of the antitrust laws or 

21 in conjunction with an investigation by the 

22 Department of Justice of a potential viola23 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, 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) PERSON.—The term ‘person’ has the 

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

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

4 ‘‘(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The term ‘vio5 lation’, with respect to the antitrust laws, shall not 

6 be construed to include a civil violation of any law 

7 that is not also a criminal violation. 

8 ‘‘(b) ENFORCEMENT ACTION.— 

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

10 alleges discharge or other discrimination by any em11 ployer in violation of subsection (a) may seek relief 

12 under subsection (c) by— 

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

14 of Labor; or 

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

16 decision within 180 days of the filing of the 

17 complaint and there is no showing that such 

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

19 bringing an action at law or equity for de novo 

20 review in the appropriate district court of the 

21 United States, which shall have jurisdiction 

22 over such an action without regard to the 

23 amount in controversy. 

24 ‘‘(2) PROCEDURE.— 
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A complaint filed with 

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

3 shall be governed under the rules and proce4 dures set forth in section 42121(b) of title 49, 

5 United States Code. 

6 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Notification made 

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

8 States Code, shall be made to any individual 

9 named in the complaint and to the employer. 

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

11 filed with the Secretary of Labor under para12 graph (1)(A) shall be governed by the legal bur13 dens of proof set forth in section 42121(b) of 

14 title 49, United States Code. 

15 ‘‘(D) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—A com16 plaint under paragraph (1)(A) shall be filed 

17 with the Secretary of Labor not later than 180 

18 days after the date on which the violation oc19 curs. 

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

21 person fails to comply with an order or prelimi22 nary order issued by the Secretary of Labor 

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

24 the Secretary of Labor or the person on whose 

25 behalf the order was issued may bring a civil 
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1 action to enforce the order in the district court 

2 of the United States for the judicial district in 

3 which the violation occurred. 

4 ‘‘(c) REMEDIES.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered individual pre6 vailing in any action under subsection (b)(1) shall be 

7 entitled to all relief necessary to make the covered 

8 individual whole. 

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

10 action under paragraph (1) shall include— 

11 ‘‘(A) reinstatement with the same seniority 

12 status that the covered individual would have 

13 had, but for the discrimination; 

14 ‘‘(B) the amount of back pay, with inter15 est; and 

16 ‘‘(C) compensation for any special damages 

17 sustained as a result of the discrimination in18 cluding litigation costs, expert witness fees, and 

19 reasonable attorney’s fees. 

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

21 Nothing in this section shall be deemed to diminish the 

22 rights, privileges, or remedies of any covered individual 
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1 under any Federal or State law, or under any collective 

2 bargaining agreement.’’. 

Passed the Senate November 4, 2013. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 42 

AN ACT 

To provide anti-retaliation protections for antitrust 

whistleblowers.