18 U.S.C. § 1515 — Definitions for certain provisions; general

Page 399 TITLE 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE § 1515 (E) JURY TRIAL.—A party to an action brought under paragraph (1)(B) shall be enti- tled to trial by jury. (c) REMEDIES.— (1) IN GENERAL.—An employee prevailing in any action under subsection (b)(1) shall be en- titled to all relief necessary to make the em- ployee whole. (2) COMPENSATORY DAMAGES.—Relief for any action under paragraph (1) shall include— (A) reinstatement with the same seniority status that the employee would have had, but for the discrimination; (B) the amount of back pay, with interest; and (C) compensation for any special damages sustained as a result of the discrimination, including litigation costs, expert witness fees, and reasonable attorney fees. (d) RIGHTS RETAINED BY EMPLOYEE.—Nothing in this section shall be deemed to diminish the rights, privileges, or remedies of any employee under any Federal or State law, or under any collective bargaining agreement. (e) NONENFORCEABILITY OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS WAIVING RIGHTS AND REMEDIES OR REQUIRING AR- BITRATION OF DISPUTES.— (1) WAIVER OF RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.—The rights and remedies provided for in this sec- tion may not be waived by any agreement, pol- icy form, or condition of employment, includ- ing by a predispute arbitration agreement. (2) PREDISPUTE ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS.— No predispute arbitration agreement shall be valid or enforceable, if the agreement requires arbitration of a dispute arising under this sec- tion. (Added Pub. L. 107–204, title VIII, § 806(a), July 30, 2002, 116 Stat. 802; amended Pub. L. 111–203, title IX, §§ 922(b), (c), 929A, July 21, 2010, 124 Stat. 1848, 1852.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2010—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 111–203, § 929A, in introduc- tory provisions, inserted ‘‘including any subsidiary or affiliate whose financial information is included in the consolidated financial statements of such company’’ after ‘‘the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78o(d))’’. Pub. L. 111–203, § 922(b), in introductory provisions, in- serted ‘‘or nationally recognized statistical rating or- ganization (as defined in section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c),’’ before ‘‘or any of- ficer,’’ and ‘‘or nationally recognized statistical rating organization’’ before ‘‘, may discharge,’’. Subsec. (b)(2)(D). Pub. L. 111–203, § 922(c)(1)(A), sub- stituted ‘‘180’’ for ‘‘90’’ and inserted ‘‘, or after the date on which the employee became aware of the violation’’ before period at end. Subsec. (b)(2)(E). Pub. L. 111–203, § 922(c)(1)(B), added subpar. (E). Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 111–203, § 922(c)(2), added subsec. (e). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2010 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 111–203 effective 1 day after July 21, 2010, except as otherwise provided, see section 4 of Pub. L. 111–203, set out as an Effective Date note under section 5301 of Title 12, Banks and Banking. § 1515. Definitions for certain provisions; general provision (a) As used in sections 1512 and 1513 of this title and in this section— (1) the term ‘‘official proceeding’’ means— (A) a proceeding before a judge or court of the United States, a United States mag- istrate judge, a bankruptcy judge, a judge of the United States Tax Court, a special trial judge of the Tax Court, a judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims, or a Federal grand jury; (B) a proceeding before the Congress; (C) a proceeding before a Federal Govern- ment agency which is authorized by law; or (D) a proceeding involving the business of insurance whose activities affect interstate commerce before any insurance regulatory official or agency or any agent or examiner appointed by such official or agency to ex- amine the affairs of any person engaged in the business of insurance whose activities affect interstate commerce; (2) the term ‘‘physical force’’ means physical action against another, and includes confine- ment; (3) the term ‘‘misleading conduct’’ means— (A) knowingly making a false statement; (B) intentionally omitting information from a statement and thereby causing a por- tion of such statement to be misleading, or intentionally concealing a material fact, and thereby creating a false impression by such statement; (C) with intent to mislead, knowingly sub- mitting or inviting reliance on a writing or recording that is false, forged, altered, or otherwise lacking in authenticity; (D) with intent to mislead, knowingly sub- mitting or inviting reliance on a sample, specimen, map, photograph, boundary mark, or other object that is misleading in a mate- rial respect; or (E) knowingly using a trick, scheme, or de- vice with intent to mislead; (4) the term ‘‘law enforcement officer’’ means an officer or employee of the Federal Government, or a person authorized to act for or on behalf of the Federal Government or serving the Federal Government as an adviser or consultant— (A) authorized under law to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, inves- tigation, or prosecution of an offense; or (B) serving as a probation or pretrial serv- ices officer under this title; (5) the term ‘‘bodily injury’’ means— (A) a cut, abrasion, bruise, burn, or dis- figurement; (B) physical pain; (C) illness; (D) impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty; or (E) any other injury to the body, no mat- ter how temporary; and (6) the term ‘‘corruptly persuades’’ does not include conduct which would be misleading conduct but for a lack of a state of mind. (b) As used in section 1505, the term ‘‘cor- ruptly’’ means acting with an improper purpose, Page 400 TITLE 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE § 1516 personally or by influencing another, including making a false or misleading statement, or withholding, concealing, altering, or destroying a document or other information. (c) This chapter does not prohibit or punish the providing of lawful, bona fide, legal rep- resentation services in connection with or an- ticipation of an official proceeding. (Added Pub. L. 97–291, § 4(a), Oct. 12, 1982, 96 Stat. 1252; amended Pub. L. 99–646, § 50(b), Nov. 10, 1986, 100 Stat. 3605; Pub. L. 100–690, title VII, § 7029(b), (d), Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4398; Pub. L. 101–650, title III, § 321, Dec. 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5117; Pub. L. 102–572, title IX, § 902(b)(1), Oct. 29, 1992, 106 Stat. 4516; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXII, § 320604(a), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2118; Pub. L. 104–292, § 3, Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3460; Pub. L. 104–294, title VI, § 604(b)(39), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3509.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1996—Subsec. (a)(1)(D). Pub. L. 104–294 struck out ‘‘or’’ after semicolon at end. Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 104–292 added subsec. (b) and redesignated former subsec. (b) as (c). 1994—Subsec. (a)(1)(D). Pub. L. 103–322 added subpar. (D). 1992—Subsec. (a)(1)(A). Pub. L. 102–572 substituted ‘‘United States Court of Federal Claims’’ for ‘‘United States Claims Court’’. 1988—Subsec. (a)(1)(A). Pub. L. 100–690, § 7029(b), in- serted ‘‘a judge of the United States Tax Court, a spe- cial trial judge of the Tax Court, a judge of the United States Claims Court,’’ after ‘‘bankruptcy judge,’’. Subsec. (a)(6). Pub. L. 100–690, § 7029(d), added par. (6). 1986—Pub. L. 99–646 inserted ‘‘; general provision’’ in section catchline, designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), and added subsec. (b). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries CHANGE OF NAME ‘‘United States magistrate judge’’ substituted for ‘‘United States magistrate’’ in subsec. (a)(1)(A) pursu- ant to section 321 of Pub. L. 101–650, set out as a note under section 631 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1996 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 104–294 effective Sept. 13, 1994, see section 604(d) of Pub. L. 104–294, set out as a note under section 13 of this title. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1992 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 102–572 effective Oct. 29, 1992, see section 911 of Pub. L. 102–572, set out as a note under section 171 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure. EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective Oct. 12, 1982, see section 9(a) of Pub. L. 97–291, set out as a note under section 1512 of this title. § 1516. Obstruction of Federal audit (a) Whoever, with intent to deceive or defraud the United States, endeavors to influence, ob- struct, or impede a Federal auditor in the per- formance of official duties relating to a person, entity, or program receiving in excess of $100,000, directly or indirectly, from the United States in any 1 year period under a contract or subcontract, grant, or cooperative agreement, or relating to any property that is security for a mortgage note that is insured, guaranteed, ac- quired, or held by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to any Act admin- istered by the Secretary, or relating to any property that is security for a loan that is made or guaranteed under title V of the Housing Act of 1949, shall be fined under this title, or impris- oned not more than 5 years, or both. (b) For purposes of this section— (1) the term ‘‘Federal auditor’’ means any person employed on a full- or part-time or con- tractual basis to perform an audit or a quality assurance inspection for or on behalf of the United States; and (2) the term ‘‘in any 1 year period’’ has the meaning given to the term ‘‘in any one-year period’’ in section 666. (Added Pub. L. 100–690, title VII, § 7078(a), Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4406; amended Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXII, § 320609, Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2120; Pub. L. 104–294, title VI, § 604(b)(43), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3509; Pub. L. 105–65, title V, § 564, Oct. 27, 1997, 111 Stat. 1420; Pub. L. 106–569, title VII, § 709(b), Dec. 27, 2000, 114 Stat. 3018; Pub. L. 107–273, div. A, title II, § 205(c), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1778.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Housing Act of 1949, referred to in subsec. (a), is act July 15, 1949, ch. 338, 63 Stat. 413. Title V of the Act is classified generally to subchapter III (§ 1471 et seq.) of chapter 8A of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1441 of Title 42 and Tables. AMENDMENTS 2002—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 107–273 inserted ‘‘, entity, or program’’ after ‘‘person’’ and ‘‘grant, or cooperative agreement,’’ after ‘‘subcontract,’’. 2000—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 106–569 inserted ‘‘or relating to any property that is security for a loan that is made or guaranteed under title V of the Housing Act of 1949,’’ before ‘‘shall be fined under this title’’. 1997—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 105–65 inserted ‘‘or relating to any property that is security for a mortgage note that is insured, guaranteed, acquired, or held by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to any Act administered by the Secretary,’’ after ‘‘under a contract or subcontract,’’. 1996—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 104–294 inserted ‘‘and’’ after semicolon at end. 1994—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 103–322 substituted ‘‘sec- tion—’’ for ‘‘section’’, inserted ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘the term’’, substituted semicolon for the period at end, and added par. (2). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1996 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 104–294 effective Sept. 13, 1994, see section 604(d) of Pub. L. 104–294, set out as a note under section 13 of this title. § 1517. Obstructing examination of financial in- stitution Whoever corruptly obstructs or attempts to obstruct any examination of a financial institu- tion by an agency of the United States with ju- risdiction to conduct an examination of such fi-