[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2615 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2615

   To establish criminal penalties for failing to inform and warn of 
                            serious dangers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 16, 2014

Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Mr. Harkin, and Mr. Casey) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To establish criminal penalties for failing to inform and warn of 
                            serious dangers.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. CRIMINAL PENALTIES.

    (a) In General.--Part I of title 18, United States Code, is amended 
by inserting after chapter 101 the following:

                  ``CHAPTER 101A--REPORTING STANDARDS

``Sec.
``2081. Definitions.
``2082. Failure to inform and warn.
``2083. Relationship to existing law.
``Sec. 2081. Definitions
    ``In this chapter--
            ``(1) the term `appropriate Federal agency' means an agency 
        with jurisdiction over a covered product, covered service, or 
        business practice;
            ``(2) the term `business entity' means a corporation, 
        company, association, firm, partnership, sole proprietor, or 
        other business entity;
            ``(3) the term `business practice' means a method or 
        practice of--
                    ``(A) manufacturing, assembling, designing, 
                researching, importing, or distributing a covered 
                product;
                    ``(B) conducting, providing, or preparing to 
                provide a covered service; or
                    ``(C) otherwise carrying out business operations 
                relating to covered products or covered services;
            ``(4) the term `covered product' means a product 
        manufactured, assembled, designed, researched, imported, or 
        distributed by a business entity that enters interstate 
        commerce;
            ``(5) the term `covered service' means a service conducted 
        or provided by a business entity that enters interstate 
        commerce;
            ``(6) the term `responsible corporate officer' means a 
        person who--
                    ``(A) is an employer, director, or officer of a 
                business entity;
                    ``(B) has the responsibility and authority, by 
                reason of his or her position in the business entity 
                and in accordance with the rules or practice of the 
                business entity, to acquire knowledge of any serious 
                danger associated with a covered product (or component 
                of a covered product), covered service, or business 
                practice of the business entity; and
                    ``(C) has the responsibility, by reason of his or 
                her position in the business entity, to communicate 
                information about the serious danger to--
                            ``(i) an appropriate Federal agency;
                            ``(ii) employees of the business entity; or
                            ``(iii) individuals, other than employees 
                        of the business entity, who may be exposed to 
                        the serious danger;
            ``(7) the term `serious bodily injury' means an impairment 
        of the physical condition of an individual, including as a 
        result of trauma, repetitive motion, or disease, that--
                    ``(A) creates a substantial risk of death; or
                    ``(B) causes--
                            ``(i) serious permanent disfigurement;
                            ``(ii) unconsciousness;
                            ``(iii) extreme pain; or
                            ``(iv) permanent or protracted loss or 
                        impairment of the function of any bodily 
                        member, organ, bodily system, or mental 
                        faculty;
            ``(8) the term `serious danger' means a danger, not readily 
        apparent to a reasonable person, that the normal or reasonably 
        foreseeable use of, or the exposure of an individual to, a 
        covered product, covered service, or business practice has an 
        imminent risk of causing death or serious bodily injury to an 
        individual; and
            ``(9) the term `warn affected employees' means take 
        reasonable steps to give, to each individual who is exposed or 
        may be exposed to a serious danger in the course of work for a 
        business entity, a description of the serious danger that is 
        sufficient to make the individual aware of the serious danger.
``Sec. 2082. Failure to inform and warn
    ``(a) Requirement.--After acquiring actual knowledge of a serious 
danger associated with a covered product (or component of a covered 
product), covered service, or business practice of a business entity, a 
business entity and any responsible corporate officer with respect to 
the covered product, covered service, or business practice, shall--
            ``(1) as soon as practicable and not later than 24 hours 
        after acquiring such knowledge, verbally inform an appropriate 
        Federal agency of the serious danger, unless the business 
        entity or responsible corporate officer has actual knowledge 
        that an appropriate Federal agency has been so informed;
            ``(2) not later than 15 days after acquiring such 
        knowledge, inform an appropriate Federal agency in writing of 
        the serious danger;
            ``(3) as soon as practicable, warn affected employees in 
        writing, unless the business entity or responsible corporate 
        officer has actual knowledge that affected employees have been 
        so warned; and
            ``(4) as soon as practicable, inform individuals, other 
        than affected employees, who may be exposed to the serious 
        danger of the serious danger if such individuals can reasonably 
        be identified.
    ``(b) Penalty.--
            ``(1) In general.--Whoever knowingly violates subsection 
        (a) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more 
        than 5 years, or both.
            ``(2) Prohibition of payment by business entities.--If a 
        final judgment is rendered and a fine is imposed on an 
        individual under this subsection, the fine may not be paid, 
        directly or indirectly, out of the assets of any business 
        entity on behalf of the individual.
    ``(c) Civil Action To Protect Against Retaliation.--
            ``(1) Prohibition.--It shall be unlawful to knowingly 
        discriminate against any person in the terms or conditions of 
        employment, in retention in employment, or in hiring because 
        the person informed a Federal agency, warned employees, or 
        informed other individuals of a serious danger associated with 
        a covered product, covered service, or business practice, as 
        required under this section.
            ``(2) Enforcement action.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A person who alleges discharge 
                or other discrimination by any person in violation of 
                paragraph (1) may seek relief under paragraph (3), by--
                            ``(i) filing a complaint with the Secretary 
                        of Labor; or
                            ``(ii) if the Secretary has not issued a 
                        final decision within 180 days of the filing of 
                        the complaint and there is no showing that such 
                        delay is due to the bad faith of the claimant, 
                        bringing an action at law or equity for de novo 
                        review in the appropriate district court of the 
                        United States, which shall have jurisdiction 
                        over such an action without regard to the 
                        amount in controversy.
                    ``(B) Procedure.--
                            ``(i) In general.--An action under 
                        subparagraph (A)(i) shall be governed under the 
                        rules and procedures set forth in section 
                        42121(b) of title 49.
                            ``(ii) Exception.--Notification made under 
                        section 42121(b)(1) of title 49 shall be made 
                        to the person named in the complaint and to the 
                        employer.
                            ``(iii) Burdens of proof.--An action 
                        brought under subparagraph (A)(ii) shall be 
                        governed by the legal burdens of proof set 
                        forth in section 42121(b) of title 49.
                            ``(iv) Statute of limitations.--An action 
                        under subparagraph (A) shall be commenced not 
                        later than 180 days after the date on which the 
                        violation occurs, or after the date on which 
                        the employee became aware of the violation.
                            ``(v) Jury trial.--A party to an action 
                        brought under subparagraph (A)(ii) shall be 
                        entitled to trial by jury.
            ``(3) Remedies.--
                    ``(A) In general.--An employee prevailing in any 
                action under paragraph (2)(A) shall be entitled to all 
                relief necessary to make the employee whole.
                    ``(B) Compensatory damages.--Relief for any action 
                under subparagraph (A) shall include--
                            ``(i) reinstatement with the same seniority 
                        status that the employee would have had, but 
                        for the discrimination;
                            ``(ii) the amount of back pay, with 
                        interest; and
                            ``(iii) compensation for any special 
                        damages sustained as a result of the 
                        discrimination, including litigation costs, 
                        expert witness fees, and reasonable attorney 
                        fees.
            ``(4) Rights retained by employee.--Nothing in this 
        subsection shall be deemed to diminish the rights, privileges, 
        or remedies of any employee under any Federal or State law, or 
        under any collective bargaining agreement.
            ``(5) Nonenforceability of certain provisions waiving 
        rights and remedies or requiring arbitration of disputes.--
                    ``(A) Waiver of rights and remedies.--The rights 
                and remedies provided for in this subsection may not be 
                waived by any agreement, policy form, or condition of 
                employment, including by a predispute arbitration 
                agreement.
                    ``(B) Predispute arbitration agreements.--No 
                predispute arbitration agreement shall be valid or 
                enforceable, if the agreement requires arbitration of a 
                dispute arising under this subsection.
``Sec. 2083. Relationship to existing law
    ``(a) Rights To Intervene.--Nothing in this chapter shall be 
construed to limit the right of any individual or group of individuals 
to initiate, intervene in, or otherwise participate in any proceeding 
before a regulatory agency or court, nor to relieve any regulatory 
agency, court, or other public body of any obligation, or affect its 
discretion to permit intervention or participation by an individual or 
a group or class of consumers, employees, or citizens in any proceeding 
or activity.
    ``(b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this chapter shall be 
construed to--
            ``(1) increase the time period for informing of a serious 
        danger or other harm under any other provision of law; or
            ``(2) limit or otherwise reduce the penalties for any 
        violation of Federal or State law under any other provision of 
        law.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of chapters for 
part I of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
the item relating to chapter 101 the following:

``101A.  Reporting standards................................    2081''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) 
shall take effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>