Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

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820 ILCS 130/11b

(820 ILCS 130/11b)

Sec. 11b. Discharge or discipline of "whistle blowers" prohibited.

(a) No person shall discharge, discipline, or in any other way discriminate
against, or cause to be discharged, disciplined, or discriminated against, any
employee or
any
authorized representative of employees by reason of the fact that the employee
or representative has filed, instituted, or caused to be filed or instituted
any proceeding under this Act, or has testified or is about to testify
in any proceeding resulting from the administration or enforcement of
this Act, or offers any evidence of any violation of this Act.

(b) Any employee or a representative of employees who believes that he has
been discharged, disciplined, or otherwise discriminated against by any person
in violation
of subsection (a) of this Section may, within 30 days after the alleged
violation occurs, apply to the Director of Labor for a
review of the discharge, discipline, or alleged discrimination.  A copy of the
application
shall be sent to the person who allegedly committed the violation, who
shall be the respondent.  Upon receipt of
an application, the Director
shall cause such investigation to be made as he or she deems appropriate.
The investigation shall provide an opportunity for a public hearing at
the request of any party to the review to enable the parties to present
information relating to the alleged violation.  The parties shall be given
written notice of the time and place of the hearing at least 5 days before
the hearing.  Upon receiving the report of the investigation, the Director
shall make findings of fact.  If the Director finds that a violation did occur,
he or she shall issue a decision incorporating his or her
findings and
requiring the party committing the violation to take such affirmative action
to abate the violation as the Director deems appropriate, including, but
not limited to, the rehiring or reinstatement of the employee or representative
of employees to his or her former position and compensating him or her for the
time he or she was unemployed.  The party committing the violation shall also be liable to the Department of Labor for a penalty of $5,000 for each violation of this Section. If the Director finds that there was no
violation, he
or she
shall issue an order denying the application.  An order issued by the
Director under this Section shall be subject to
judicial review under the Administrative Review Law.

(c) The Director shall adopt rules implementing this Section in
accordance
with the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.

(Source: P.A. 94-488, eff. 1-1-06.)