Public Act 93-0544

SB1872 Enrolled                      LRB093 10700 WGH 11076 b

    AN ACT concerning employment.

    Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:

    Section  1.  Short  title.  This  Act may be cited as the
Whistleblower Act.

    Section 5.  Definitions. As used in this Act:
    "Employer" means:  an  individual,  sole  proprietorship,
partnership,  firm,  corporation,  association, and any other
entity that has one or more employees in this  State,  except
that "employer" does not include any governmental entity.
    "Employee"  means  any  individual  who  is employed on a
full-time, part-time, or contractual basis by an employer.

    Section 10.  Certain policies prohibited. An employer may
not make, adopt, or enforce any rule, regulation,  or  policy
preventing  an  employee  from  disclosing  information  to a
government or law enforcement  agency  if  the  employee  has
reasonable  cause to believe that the information discloses a
violation of a State or federal law, rule, or regulation.

    Section   15.  Retaliation   for   certain    disclosures
prohibited. An employer may not retaliate against an employee
for disclosing information to a government or law enforcement
agency,  where  the  employee has reasonable cause to believe
that the information discloses a  violation  of  a  State  or
federal law, rule, or regulation.

    Section 20.  Retaliation for certain refusals prohibited.
An  employer  may  not  retaliate  against  an  employee  for
refusing to participate in an activity that would result in a
violation of a State or federal law, rule, or regulation.
    Section  25.  Civil  penalty.  Violation of this Act is a
Class A misdemeanor.

    Section 30.  Damages. If an  employer  takes  any  action
against  an  employee  in  violation of Section 15 or 20, the
employee may bring a civil action against  the  employer  for
all  relief  necessary  to make the employee whole, including
but not limited to the following, as appropriate:
         (1)  reinstatement with the  same  seniority  status
    that the employee would have had, but for the violation;
         (2)  back pay, with interest; and
         (3)  compensation  for  any  damages  sustained as a
    result of  the  violation,  including  litigation  costs,
    expert witness fees, and reasonable attorney's fees.

    Section  35.  Exception.  This  Act  does  not  apply  to
disclosures   that   would  constitute  a  violation  of  the
attorney-client privilege.