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21-1-604. Civil liability — Definition.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
21-1-604. Civil liability — Definition.
(a) A public employee who alleges a violation of this subchapter may bring a civil action for appropriate injunctive relief or actual damages, or both, within one hundred eighty (180) calendar days after the occurrence of the alleged violation of this subchapter.
(b) An action commenced under this section may be brought in the circuit court for the county where the alleged violation occurred, for the county where the complainant resides, or in the Pulaski County Circuit Court if the complaint is filed against an agency, department, or institution of state government.
(c) To prevail in an action brought under the authority of this section, the public employee shall establish, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the employee has suffered an adverse action because the employee or a person acting on his or her behalf engaged or intended to engage in an activity protected under this subchapter.
(d) As used in this section, “damages” means damages for a job-related injury or loss caused by each violation of this subchapter, including, but not limited to, fringe benefits, retirement service credit, compensation for lost wages, benefits, and any other remuneration, and reasonable court costs and attorney's fees.
(e)(1) A public employer shall have an affirmative defense to a civil action brought by a public employee under this subchapter if the adverse action taken against a public employee was due to employee misconduct, poor job performance, or a reduction in workforce unrelated to a communication made pursuant to § 21-1-603.
(2) The public employer must prove the existence of the public employee's misconduct unrelated to the communication by a preponderance of the evidence.
(f)(1) In the event the Office of Personnel
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 21-1-604
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. A text match is a research starting point; applicability is not established.
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Stable record: arkansas_code:legal_authorities:21-1-604
Source file: gov.ar.code.title.21.odt
Pages: Not recorded – Not recorded
Passage SHA-256: 81df5cd3477e0f9804001112281d5c86208a2cafdc518ec47dea4e027e0ff7ad
Source location: content.xml paragraph 590
Stored source content
21-1-604. Civil liability — Definition.
(a) A public employee who alleges a violation of this subchapter may bring a civil action for appropriate injunctive relief or actual damages, or both, within one hundred eighty (180) calendar days after the occurrence of the alleged violation of this subchapter.
(b) An action commenced under this section may be brought in the circuit court for the county where the alleged violation occurred, for the county where the complainant resides, or in the Pulaski County Circuit Court if the complaint is filed against an agency, department, or institution of state government.
(c) To prevail in an action brought under the authority of this section, the public employee shall establish, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the employee has suffered an adverse action because the employee or a person acting on his or her behalf engaged or intended to engage in an activity protected under this subchapter.
(d) As used in this section, “damages” means damages for a job-related injury or loss caused by each violation of this subchapter, including, but not limited to, fringe benefits, retirement service credit, compensation for lost wages, benefits, and any other remuneration, and reasonable court costs and attorney's fees.
(e)(1) A public employer shall have an affirmative defense to a civil action brought by a public employee under this subchapter if the adverse action taken against a public employee was due to employee misconduct, poor job performance, or a reduction in workforce unrelated to a communication made pursuant to § 21-1-603.
(2) The public employer must prove the existence of the public employee's misconduct unrelated to the communication by a preponderance of the evidence.
(f)(1) In the event the Office of Personnel Management implements an employee grievance mediation program, a public employee or public employer may voluntarily participate in mediation under the office's mediation program if either one wishes to resolve a dispute between them that involves an adverse action taken against the public employee.
(2) Voluntary mediation shall occur before a civil action in which the public employee and public employer are parties has been initiated in a court.
(3) The Secretary of the Department of Transformation and Shared Services shall adopt voluntary mediation application and request forms.
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Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
21-1-603. Public employer conduct prohibited — Good faith communication.
(a)(1) A public employer shall not take adverse action against a public employee because the public employee or a person authorized to act on behalf of the public employee communicates in good faith to an appropriate authority:
(A) The existence of waste of public funds, property, or manpower, including federal funds, property, or manpower administered or controlled by a public employer; or
(B) A violation or suspected violation of a law, rule, or regulation adopted under the law of this state or a political subdivision of the state.
(2) The communication shall be made at a time and in a manner which gives the public employer reasonable notice of need to correct the waste or violation.
(b)(1) For purposes of subsection (a) of this section, a public employee communicates in good faith if there is a reasonable basis in fact for the communication of the existence of waste or of a violation.
(2) Good faith is lacking when the public employee does not have personal knowledge of a factual basis for the communication or when the public employee knew or reasonably should have known that the communication of the waste or of the violation was malicious, false, or frivolous.
(c) A public employer shall not take an adverse action against a public employee because the employee participates or gives information in an investigation, hearing, court proceeding, legislative or other inquiry, or in any form of administrative review.
(d) A public employer shall not take an adverse action against a public employee because an employee has objected to or refused to carry out a directive that the employee reasonably believes violates a law or a rule or regulation adopted under the authority of laws of the
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 21-1-603
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 21-1-603. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.