31 U.S.C. § 5328
Section 5328 · Whistleblower protections
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 7 court decisions — leading case Schroeder v. Greater New Orleans Federal Credit Union (2011)
Most recently applied in Barrick v. Pngi Charles Town Gaming, LLC (February 2019)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Prohibition Against Discrimination.—No financial institution or nonfinancial trade or business may discharge or otherwise discriminate against any employee with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because the employee (or any person acting pursuant to the request of the employee) provided information to the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, or any Federal supervisory agency regarding a possible violation of any provision of this subchapter or section 1956, 1957, or 1960 of title 18, or any regulation under any such provision, by the financial institution or nonfinancial trade or business or any director, officer, or employee of the financial institution or nonfinancial trade or business.
(b) Enforcement.—Any employee or former employee who believes that such employee has been discharged or discriminated against in violation of subsection (a) may file a civil action in the appropriate United States district court before the end of the 2-year period beginning on the date of such discharge or discrimination.
(c) Remedies.—If the district court determines that a violation has occurred, the court may order the financial institution or nonfinancial trade or business which committed the violation to—
(1) reinstate the employee to the employee's former position;
(2) pay compensatory damages; or
(3) take other appropriate actions to remedy any past discrimination.
(d) Limitation.—The protections of this section shall not apply to any employee who—
(1) deliberately causes or participates in the alleged violation of law or regulation; or
(2) knowingly or recklessly provides substantially false information to the Secretary, the Attorney General, or any Federal supervisory agency.
(e) Coordination With Other Provisions of Law.—This section shall not apply with respect to any financial institution or nonfinancial trade or business which is subject to section 33 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, section 213 of the Federal Credit Union Act, or section 21A(q) of the Home Owners’ Loan Act 1 (as added by section 251(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991).
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
References in Text
Section 33 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, referred to in subsec. (e), is classified to section 1831j of Title 12, Banks and Banking.
Section 213 of the Federal Credit Union Act, referred to in subsec. (e), is classified to section 1790b of Title 12.
Section 21A(q) of the Home Owners’ Loan Act, referred to in subsec. (e), probably means section 21A(q) of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act, which is classified to section 1441a(q) of Title 12.
Codification
Another section 365(c) of Pub. L. 107–56 amended the table of sections at the beginning of this chapter.
Amendments
2001—Subsecs. (a), (c), (e). Pub. L. 107–56 inserted “or nonfinancial trade or business” after “financial institution” wherever appearing.
Termination Date of 2001 Amendment
Amendments by title III of Pub. L. 107–56 to terminate effective on and after the first day of fiscal year 2005 if Congress enacts a joint resolution that such amendments no longer have the force of law, see section 303 of Pub. L. 107–56, set out as a Four-Year Congressional Review; Expedited Consideration note under section 5311 of this title.