§ 34-01-20 — Employer retaliation prohibited - Civil action for relief - Penalty

1. An employer may not discharge, discipline, threaten discrimination, or penalize an
employee regarding the employee's compensation, conditions, location, or privileges
of employment because:
a. The employee, or a person acting on behalf of an employee, in good faith, reports
a violation or suspected violation of federal, state, or local law, ordinance,
regulation, or rule to an employer, a governmental body, or a law enforcement
official.
b. The employee is requested by a public body or official to participate in an
investigation, a hearing, or an inquiry.
c. The employee refuses an employer's order to perform an action that the
employee believes violates local, state, or federal law, ordinance, rule, or
regulation. The employee must have an objective basis in fact for that belief and
shall inform the employer that the order is being refused for that reason.
2. An employer who willfully violates this section is guilty of an infraction.
3. An employee asserting a violation of this section may bring a civil action for injunctive
relief or actual damages, or both, within one hundred eighty days after the alleged
violation, completion of proceedings under subsection 4, or completion of any
grievance procedure available to the employee under the employee's collective
bargaining agreement, employment contract, or any public employee statute, rule, or
policy, whichever is later. If the court determines that a violation has or is occurring
under this section, the court may order, as the court deems appropriate, reinstatement
of the employee, backpay for no more than two years after the violation, reinstatement
of fringe benefits, temporary or permanent injunctive relief, or any combination of
these remedies. Interim earnings or amounts earnable with reasonable diligence by
the employee, from the same employer, must reduce backpay otherwise allowable. In
any action under this section, the court may award reasonable attorney's fees to the
prevailing party as part of the costs of litigation. An employee whose collective
bargaining agreement, employment contract, or public employee rights provides a
process through which recourse for conduct prohibited by subsection 1 is available
must exercise that process to completion before commencing an action under this
subsection, and if that process provides for judicial review by statutory appeal, then
recourse under this subsection is not available.
4. The department of labor and human rights shall receive complaints of violations of this
section and may attempt to obtain voluntary compliance with this section through
informal advice, negotiation, or conciliation. In order to receive assistance from the
department of labor and human rights, a person claiming to be aggrieved by a violation
of this section shall file a complaint with the department within three hundred days
after the alleged act of wrongdoing. An employee is not prohibited from filing, or
required to file, a complaint with the department of labor and human rights under this
subsection before proceeding under other provisions of this section.