(a) Any employee, contractor, or agent shall be entitled to all relief necessary to make that employee, contractor, or agent whole, if that employee, contractor, or agent is discharged, demoted, suspended, threatened, harassed, or in any other manner discriminated against in the terms and conditions of employment because of lawful acts done by the employee, contractor, agent, or associated others in furtherance of an action under this subchapter or other efforts to stop one or more violations of this subchapter.
(b) The relief authorized under subsection (a) of this section shall include:
(1) Reinstatement with the same seniority status that the employee, contractor, or agent would have had but for the discrimination;
(2) Two times the amount of back pay;
(3) Interest on the back pay; and
(4) Compensation for any special damages sustained as a result of the discrimination, including litigation costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees.
(c) An action seeking relief under this section may be brought in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia; provided, that a civil action seeking relief under this section may not be brought more than 3 years after the date when the retaliation occurred.
(Feb. 21, 1986, D.C. Law 6-85, § 816, 32 DCR 7396; as added May 8, 1998, D.C. Law 12-104, § 2(g), 45 DCR 1687; Apr. 20, 1999, D.C. Law 12-264, § 10(c), 46DCR 2118; Sept. 26, 2012, D.C. Law 19-171, § 98(a), 59 DCR 6190; Mar. 19, 2013, D.C. Law 19-232, § 2(d), 59 DCR 13632.)
Prior Codifications2001 Ed., § 2-308.16.
1981 Ed., § 1-1188.16.
Section ReferencesThis section is referenced in § 2-308.16.
Effect of AmendmentsThe 2012 amendment by D.C. Law 19-171 amended D.C. Law 19-21, § 9004(b) to repeal D.C. Law 6-85, § 820 instead of D.C. Law 6-85, § 816.
The 2013 amendment by D.C. Law 19-232 rewrote the section.