Bill Text: CT SB00263 | 2014 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: An Act Concerning The Extension Of Whistle-blower Protections To An Employee Who Reports A Suspected Violation Of Law To The Employee's Supervisor Or Manager.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-02-28 - Public Hearing 03/05 [SB00263 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2014-SB00263-Introduced.html

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General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 263
February Session, 2014		LCO No. 1650
		*01650_______JUD*
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)

AN ACT CONCERNING THE EXTENSION OF WHISTLE-BLOWER PROTECTIONS TO AN EMPLOYEE WHO REPORTS A SUSPECTED VIOLATION OF LAW TO THE EMPLOYEE'S SUPERVISOR OR MANAGER.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 31-51m of the 2014 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2014):

(a) As used in this section: [and section 31-278:]

(1) "Person" means one or more individuals, partnerships, associations, corporations, limited liability companies, business trusts, legal representatives or any organized group of persons;

(2) "Employer" means a person engaged in business who has employees, including the state and any political subdivision of the state;

(3) "Employee" means any person engaged in service to an employer in a business of his employer;

(4) "Public body" means (A) any public agency, as defined in subdivision (1) of section 1-200, or any employee, member or officer thereof, or (B) any federal agency or any employee, member or officer thereof; and

(5) "Supervisor" or "manager" means any person who directs or controls the daily activities of an employee or who solely or in part is responsible for decisions involving employee compensation or other material terms and conditions of employment.

(b) No employer shall discharge, discipline or otherwise penalize any employee because (1) the employee, or a person acting on behalf of the employee, reports, verbally or in writing, a violation or a suspected violation of any state or federal law or regulation or any municipal ordinance or regulation to a public body or to any supervisor or manager of the employer, (2) the employee is requested by a public body or any supervisor or manager of the employer to participate in an investigation, hearing or inquiry held by [that] the public body or employer, or a court action, or (3) the employee reports a suspected incident of child abuse or neglect pursuant to sections 17a-101a to 17a-101d, inclusive, or 17a-103. No municipal employer shall discharge, discipline or otherwise penalize any employee because the employee, or a person acting on behalf of the employee, reports, verbally or in writing, to a public body concerning the unethical practices, mismanagement or abuse of authority by such employer. The provisions of this subsection shall not be applicable when the employee knows that such report is false.

(c) Any employee who is discharged, disciplined or otherwise penalized by his employer in violation of the provisions of subsection (b) may, after exhausting all available administrative remedies, bring a civil action, within [ninety] one hundred eighty days of the date of the final administrative determination or within [ninety] one hundred eighty days of such violation, whichever is later, in the superior court for the judicial district where the violation is alleged to have occurred or where the employer has its principal office, for (1) the reinstatement of [his] the employee's previous job, (2) payment of back wages and reestablishment of employee benefits to which [he] the employee would have otherwise been entitled if such violation had not occurred, (3) noneconomic damages, (4) the removal of any discipline or penalty imposed upon the employee, and (5) future economic damages attributable to a reduction in the employee's wages in the event that reinstatement of the employee's previous job is not feasible or impracticable. An employee's recovery from any such action shall be limited to such items, provided the court may allow to the prevailing party his costs, together with reasonable attorney's fees to be taxed by the court. Any employee found to have knowingly made a false report shall be subject to disciplinary action by his employer up to and including dismissal.

(d) This section shall not be construed to diminish or impair the rights of a person under any collective bargaining agreement.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	October 1, 2014	31-51m

Statement of Purpose:

To extend whistle-blower protections to an employee who reports to the employee's supervisor or manager a violation or a suspected violation of any state or federal law or regulation or any municipal ordinance or regulation.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]