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House Passes Antitrust Whistleblower Protections

By  |  December 9, 2020

The US House of Representatives passed legislation on Tuesday, December 8, by Sens. Chuck Grassley (Republican – Iowa) and Patrick Leahy (Democrat – Vermont) granting protections to whistleblowers who shine a light on violations of antitrust laws. The Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act, which unanimously passed the Senate last year, must now be signed by the President to become law.

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    “Competition is essential for a thriving, affordable and innovative marketplace. When our antitrust laws are violated, consumers are often left paying the price. The Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act encourages and shields from reprisal private sector employees to shine a light on activities that violate our antitrust laws. This bipartisan bill is an important step to safeguarding fair marketplaces as well as the whistleblowers who support them. It’s earned broad support in both chambers of Congress, and I urge President Trump to sign it into law without delay,” Grassley said.

    “Our country has a proud history of protecting whistleblowers who expose wrongdoing, beginning when the Continental Congress unanimously passed the first whistleblower law 242 years ago. Today, Congress honors that longstanding tradition by unanimously passing the bipartisan Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act that I co-authored with Senator Grassley. In an era where dominant corporations aggressively seek to expand their profits and quash competitors, our laws should protect whistleblowers who take significant risks to report criminal antitrust violations like price fixing that undermine free and fair competition. That’s exactly what our legislation would do. I urge President Trump to sign this commonsense, bipartisan bill into law without delay,” Leahy said.

    Text of the Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act is available here.