Indiana Code 5-11-1-9.5. Confidential reporting; retaliation; relief
(1) a public office;
Terms Used In Indiana Code 5-11-1-9.5
- Attorney: includes a counselor or other person authorized to appear and represent a party in an action or special proceeding. See Indiana Code 1-1-4-5
- audited entity: has the meaning set forth in Indiana Code 5-11-1-16
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- entity: means any provider of goods, services, or other benefits that is:
Indiana Code 5-11-1-16
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- public office: means the office of any and every individual who for or on behalf of the state or any municipality or any public hospital holds, receives, disburses, or keeps the accounts of the receipts and disbursements of any public funds. See Indiana Code 5-11-1-16
- public officer: means any individual who holds, receives, disburses, or is required by law to keep any account of public funds or other funds for which the individual is accountable by virtue of the individual's public office. See Indiana Code 5-11-1-16
- state: means any board, commission, department, division, bureau, committee, agency, governmental subdivision, military body, authority, or other instrumentality of the state, but does not include a municipality. See Indiana Code 5-11-1-16
(3) an individual who handles, administers, or has responsibility for administering public funds on behalf of an audited entity;
to the state board of accounts. The individual’s identity is confidential unless a civil proceeding is pending under IC 5-11-5-1(a) and the court orders disclosure.
(b) A public office, officer, entity, or institution may not retaliate against an employee of the state or a political subdivision for making a report under subsection (a).
(c) An individual who has been discharged, demoted, suspended, threatened, harassed, or otherwise discriminated against by the individual’s employer in the terms and conditions of employment as a result of the individual’s good faith reporting actions under this section is entitled to all relief necessary to make the individual whole.
(d) Relief under subsection (c) for an individual bringing an action against a person who is not a state officer or state agency includes the following:
(1) Reinstatement with the same seniority status the individual would have but for the act described in subsection (c).
(2) Two (2) times the amount of back pay that is owed to the individual.
(3) Interest on the back pay that is owed to the individual.
(4) Compensation for any special damages sustained by the individual as a result of the act described in subsection (c), including costs and expenses of litigation and reasonable attorney‘s fees.
(e) An individual may bring an action against a person who is not a state officer or state agency for the relief provided in this section in a court with jurisdiction.
As added by P.L.51-1985, SEC.1. Amended by P.L.52-2015, SEC.1; P.L.209-2019, SEC.2; P.L.59-2023, SEC.6.