(a) The commission shall impose on an employer who violates this chapter an administrative penalty in an amount equal to $50,000 for each violation, unless the employer, as applicable:
(1) hires the applicant for employment or offers a contract to the applicant for a contract position; or
(2) reinstates the employee or contractor and provides the employee or contractor with back pay from the date the employer took the adverse action and makes every reasonable effort to reverse the effects of the adverse action, including reestablishing employee benefits for which the employee or contractor otherwise would have been eligible if the adverse action had not been taken.
(b) If, following an investigation under Section 81D.004, the commission determines that the employer violated this chapter, the commission may recover from the employer reasonable investigative costs incurred by the commission in conducting the investigation, regardless of whether the employer has taken an action described by Subsection (a)(1) or (2).