I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6409 
To streamline the administration of whistleblower protections for private 
sector employees. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 13, 2012 
Ms. WOOLSEY (for herself, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, and Mr. KIL-
DEE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on 
the Judiciary and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To streamline the administration of whistleblower protections 
for private sector employees. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Private Sector Whistleblower Protection Streamlining 
Act of 2012’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
TITLE I—PRIVATE SECTOR EMPLOYMENT WHISTLEBLOWER 
PROTECTIONS 
Sec. 101. Definitions. 
Sec. 102. Protection against retaliation or discrimination. 
Sec. 103. Enforcement. 
Sec. 104. Restrictions on whistleblowing prohibited; confidentiality of whistle-
blower. 
Sec. 105. Nonpreemption. 
Sec. 106. Effective date and rules. 
TITLE II—WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION OFFICE 
Sec. 201. Establishment. 
Sec. 202. Other private sector whistleblower protections. 
Sec. 203. Duties, powers, and functions. 
TITLE III—CONFORMING AMENDMENTS 
Sec. 301. Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. 
Sec. 302. Federal Mine Safety and Health Act. 
Sec. 303. Amendment to title 18 provisions related to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 
of 2002. 
Sec. 304. Energy Reorganization Act of 1974. 
TITLE IV—ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW BOARD 
Sec. 401. Administrative Review Board. 
TITLE I—PRIVATE SECTOR EM-
PLOYMENT WHISTLEBLOWER 
PROTECTIONS 
SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 
As used in this title, the following definitions apply: 
(1) APPLICABLE LAW.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B), the term ‘‘applicable law’’ means 
any Federal law, rule, regulation, or Executive 
order, or a law, rule or regulation of a State or 
political subdivision of a State implementing 
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any Federal law, rule or regulation, relating 
to— 
(i) health and health care; 
(ii) environmental protection and re-
source management; 
(iii) food and drug safety (including 
relating to the production, manufacturing, 
and product safety of pharmaceuticals, 
medical devices, and agricultural products); 
(iv) transportation (including mari-
time); 
(v) working conditions and benefits 
(including social insurance such as workers 
compensation and unemployment insur-
ance); 
(vi) building and construction-related 
requirements, including safety require-
ments, structural and engineering stand-
ards, and building codes; 
(vii) 
energy 
production, 
transpor-
tation, storage, security, safety, and use 
(including operations on the outer Conti-
nental Shelf (as defined in section 2 of the 
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 
U.S.C. 1331))); 
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(viii) homeland security; 
(ix) financial services (including bank-
ing, insurance, accounting, commodities, 
and securities); 
(x) consumer protection (including 
consumer product safety); 
(xi) education; 
(xii) antitrust, copyright, or patent; 
(xiii) transactions involving the Fed-
eral Government or use of Federal funds 
for grants, contracts, cooperative agree-
ments, or program payments (including 
laws pertaining to fraud, waste, or abuse); 
(xiv) the assessment, collection, or any 
other action regarding royalties, customs 
duties, tariffs, taxes, or any other sources 
of revenue due the Federal Government or 
its entities; or 
(xv) 
communications 
and 
tele-
communications. 
(B) EXCEPTIONS AND EXCLUSIONS.—Not-
withstanding subparagraph (A), the following 
Federal laws, rules, and regulations shall not be 
considered applicable laws for purposes of this 
Act: 
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(i) Civil rights laws administered by 
the Equal Employment Opportunity Com-
mission that provide anti-retaliation pro-
tections for employees exercising their 
rights under such laws. 
(ii) Whistleblower Protection Act (5 
U.S.C. 1201 note) and laws administered 
by the Merit Systems Protection Board. 
(iii) Federal laws, rules, or regulations 
that provide employees with the following 
minimum anti-retaliation protections: 
(I) At least 180 days to file a 
complaint. 
(II) A right to investigation and 
adjudication by an independent hear-
ing officer, and an appeal to either an 
administrative or judicial body. 
(III) A right to a decision within 
365 days of filing a complaint. 
(IV) A right to remove to Fed-
eral or State court any complaint that 
has not received a decision after 210 
days from the filing of such com-
plaint. 
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(V) A right to appropriate relief, 
including injunctive relief, compen-
satory and exemplary damages, attor-
neys and experts fees, and costs. 
(2) 
EMPLOYEE.—The 
term 
‘‘employee’’ 
means— 
(A) any person receiving compensation 
from or whose employment is subject to the 
control of an employer, being considered for 
employment by the employer, or previously em-
ployed by an employer, including any person 
working as an associate; 
(B) a person employed on a temporary or 
part-time basis; 
(C) a person employed by a contractor or 
subcontractor of an employer; or 
(D) a member of a professional member-
ship organization or other professional body (in-
cluding professional with institutional privileges 
or appointments to an organization). 
(3) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘employer’’ means 
one or more individuals, partnerships, associations, 
corporations, legal representatives, mutual compa-
nies, joint-stock companies, trusts, unincorporated 
organizations, nongovernmental organizations, trust-
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ees, professional membership organizations (includ-
ing a certification, disciplinary, or other professional 
body), including the agents of the employer or a per-
son acting directly or indirectly in the interests of 
the employer, engaged in for profit or nonprofit 
business affecting commerce, including any subsidi-
aries, affiliates, and foreign operations of any busi-
ness that are subject to applicable law, any entity of 
a State government or political subdivision of a 
State, or any nongovernmental organization, and 
any contractor or subcontractor of another employer. 
(4) MANAGER.—The term ‘‘manager’’ means 
any person who has direct, implied, apparent author-
ity over the work performance of an employee, or 
other supervisory relationship, directly or indirectly 
through subordinates, or a person who has the di-
rect, implied, or apparent authority to recommend or 
to take corrective action regarding the activities or 
policies of the employer or to remedy a violation of 
an applicable law. 
(5) MEDIA.—The term ‘‘media’’ includes a 
member of the print, radio, television, or internet 
media. 
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(6) 
PROTECTED
INFORMATION.—The 
term 
‘‘protected information’’ means any information that 
an employee reasonably believes evidences— 
(A) a violation or the intent to commit a 
violation by the employer of an applicable law; 
(B) a hazard or potential danger to the 
health or safety of any employee or to the pub-
lic, including any injury or illness; or 
(C) fraud on the part of the employer in 
connection with the implementation of or com-
pliance with an applicable law or a standard of 
practice established by a professional standards 
setting body. 
(7) PUBLIC
BODY.—The term ‘‘public body’’ 
means Congress, any State legislature or popularly 
elected local government body, any Federal, State or 
local regulatory, administrative, or public agency, 
authority, or instrumentality or combination thereof, 
any Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency, 
prosecutorial office, or police or peace officer, any 
Federal, State or local court or other adjudicative 
body, or any division, board, bureau, office, com-
mittee, or commission of any such public bodies, or 
any organization or credentialing body that estab-
lishes or enforces standards of professional conduct. 
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(8) REASONABLE
CAUSE
TO
BELIEVE.—The 
term ‘‘reasonable cause to believe’’, when used with 
respect to a temporary reinstatement of a complaint, 
means that a claim in the complaint appears to have 
merit. 
(9) REASONABLY BELIEVES.—The term ‘‘rea-
sonably believes’’, when used with respect to infor-
mation that may be protected information, means 
that a disinterested observer with a similar level of 
education, skill, and experience and with knowledge 
of the essential facts known to or readily ascertained 
by an employee could conclude that such information 
is protected information. 
(10) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘‘Secretary’’ 
means the Secretary of Labor. 
(11) UNFAVORABLE PERSONNEL ACTION.—The 
term ‘‘unfavorable personnel action’’ means any ac-
tion or inaction, whether taken, recommended, or 
threatened, directly or indirectly unfavorable to an 
employee, or the parent, sibling, spouse, or child of 
an employee, by any employer, including the current 
employer of the employee, including termination, 
performance appraisal or action, discipline, reduction 
in pay or benefits, transfer, reassignment, demotion, 
withholding of training or other advancement oppor-
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tunities, removal of resources, the denial, suspen-
sion, or revocation of a security clearance, investiga-
tion, peer review, law enforcement referral, or pros-
ecution, filing criminal or civil charges, change in se-
niority rights, denial of advancement, denial of con-
tract, revocation of security credentials, blacklisting, 
listing on a practitioner databank, violence or other 
physical action, any other discrimination or other ac-
tion that negatively affects the terms or conditions, 
or privileges of employment of such employee, or any 
other conduct that would dissuade a reasonable per-
son from engaging in activities protected by this 
title. 
SEC. 102. PROTECTION AGAINST RETALIATION OR DIS-
CRIMINATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—No employer shall take any unfa-
vorable personnel action against an employee if such ac-
tion is due, in whole or in part, to any lawful act done, 
perceived to have been done, or intended to be done by 
the employee to— 
(1) communicate or disclose, without restriction 
as to place, form, motive, context, forum, or prior 
disclosure, including disclosure in the ordinary 
course of the employee’s duties, to an employer or 
manager, public body, or the media, or to the public, 
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any protected information, where disclosure is not 
specifically prohibited by law or because such infor-
mation is classified, in which case the information 
may be disclosed to an official eligible by law to re-
ceive such information and designated by the em-
ployer, or to a relevant regulatory authority, law en-
forcement agency, or Inspector General; 
(2) take action to initiate, testify, cooperate, or 
otherwise assist or participate in an investigation or 
proceeding by a public body, or any proceeding au-
thorized by applicable law, or take action indicating 
that the employee is about to testify, cooperate, or 
otherwise assist such an investigation or proceeding; 
(3) object to or refuse to participate in any ac-
tivity, policy, practice, or assigned task which the 
employee reasonably believes is or would be in viola-
tion of an applicable law or endangers the safety or 
health of the employee or others; 
(4) inform or discuss with co-workers of the 
employee, experts or corroborating witnesses, a rep-
resentative of the employee, a safety and health or 
similar workplace committee, or a family member of 
the employee, any protected information, where dis-
closure is not prohibited by law or because it is clas-
sified; or 
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(5) otherwise avail the employee of the rights 
set forth in this title or other applicable law, or as-
sist another employee in asserting the rights avail-
able under this title. 
(b) BROAD CONSTRUCTION.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the provisions of this section and section 101 
should be construed broadly to maximize this Act’s reme-
dial objectives. 
SEC. 103. ENFORCEMENT. 
(a) COMPLAINT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), an 
employee who believes that he or she has been sub-
jected to an unfavorable personnel action by his or 
her employer in violation of section 102(a) may seek 
the relief described in this section by filing a com-
plaint with the Secretary as described in subsection 
(b) not later than 180 days after the later of— 
(A) the date on which such violation oc-
curs, or in the case of a violation that is a re-
peated violation, the last date on which such 
violation occurs; or 
(B) the date on which the employee knows 
or should reasonably have known that such vio-
lation occurred, or in the case of a violation 
that is a repeated violation, the last date on 
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