Congress Passes Bill To Protect Whistleblowers In Criminal Antitrust Cases

On December 8, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act, which prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who report antitrust violations.¹ The bill unanimously passed the Senate in October 2019 and is expected to be signed into law by the President.

Scope of the Statute

The bill provides new whistleblower protections to employees, contractors, subcontractors, or agents of private employers (“covered individuals”) who report conduct related to a suspected criminal antitrust violation to either 1) the federal government; 2) a person with supervisory authority over the covered individual; or 3) a person working for the employer with investigative authority.² The bill also protects covered individuals who assist the federal government with an investigation or proceeding related to suspected criminal antitrust violations.³