42 U.S.C. § 7622 — Employee protection

(a) Discharge or discrimination prohibited. An employer cannot fire an employee, or otherwise discriminate against them in pay or job conditions, because the employee (or someone acting for the employee) (1) started, or is about to start, a legal proceeding under this chapter (the Clean Air Act) or helped enforce its rules; (2) testified, or is about to testify, in such a proceeding; or (3) helped or took part, or is about to help or take part, in such a proceeding or in any other action carrying out this chapter's purposes. (b) Complaint process. (1) An employee who believes they were fired or discriminated against this way may file a complaint with the Secretary of Labor within 30 days of the violation. The employee (or someone on their behalf) can file it. The Secretary must notify the accused person that a complaint was filed. (2) The Secretary must investigate within 30 days and tell both the employee and the accused person the results in writing. Within 90 days of the complaint (unless the case ends earlier by a settlement the employee agreed to), the Secretary must either order relief or deny the complaint, based on a public hearing record. If the Secretary finds a violation happened, the Secretary must order the violator to fix the problem and reinstate the employee with back pay and the same job terms and conditions, and may also order compensatory damages. If the employee asks, the Secretary must also make the violator pay the employee's reasonable costs, including attorneys' and expert witness fees. (c) Review. (1) Anyone hurt by the Secretary's order can ask a federal court of appeals to review it, within 60 days of the order. The review follows the standard rules in Title 5, Chapter 7. Filing for review does not pause the order unless the court says so. (2) Once that appeal window has run, the order cannot be challenged again in any other criminal or civil case. (d) Enforcement by the Secretary. If someone ignores an order under subsection (b), the Secretary can sue them in federal district court. The court can grant any appropriate relief, including injunctions and compensatory and exemplary (punitive) damages. (e) Enforcement by the employee. (1) The person the order was issued for can also sue in federal district court to force compliance, regardless of the dollar amount involved or where the parties live. (2) The court may award reasonable litigation costs, including attorney and expert witness fees, if it decides that is appropriate. (f) Mandamus. Any required duty this section creates can be enforced through a mandamus lawsuit (a suit that forces a government official to act) under 28 U.S.C. § 1361. (g) Exception for deliberate violations. This protection does not apply to an employee who — acting on their own, without direction from their employer — deliberately causes a violation of the Clean Air Act's requirements.