§14.  Violations reported by employees; retaliation by insurer prohibited

A.  Any insurer transacting business in this state is prohibited from penalizing any of its employees for reporting to the commissioner of insurance or other appropriate authorities, in good faith, a suspected violation of this Code, or any law in  this Title relative to required reserves, capital, assets, deposits, minimum and operating surplus, investments, and separate accounts of entities regulated by the Department of Insurance, illegal discrimination against a person, or other prohibitory provisions that provide criminal penalties for their violation, or any rule with criminal sanctions adopted by the commissioner of insurance.  For purposes of this Section, "penalize" or "penalizing" shall include:

(1)  Discharging, disciplining, demoting, transferring, or otherwise discriminating against an employee of the insurer.

(2)  Reducing the benefits, pay, or work privileges of an employee of the insurer.

(3)  Preparing a negative work performance evaluation of an employee of the insurer.

(4)  Threatening to take any of the actions described in Paragraphs (1) through (3) of this Subsection.

B.  Whenever the commissioner of insurance, a state agency, or law enforcement agency conducts an investigation based upon a written sworn report or with the participation of an employee as provided in this Section, it may not disclose the identity of the employee without the employee's consent.  If it is determined that such disclosure is required for an administrative proceeding or criminal prosecution based upon the findings of the investigation, then the person or entity conducting the investigation shall notify the employee prior to disclosure of the employee's identity.  Any hearing under this Section shall be conducted in accordance with Chapter 12 of this Title, R.S. 22:2191 et seq.

C.  Any employee who makes a written sworn report on the activities of an insurer, as described in this Section, to the commissioner of insurance or appropriate authority, is not subject to civil liability for making the report and no civil cause of action may arise against the employee for making the report.  This immunity shall apply provided that the information available to the employee would support a reasonable belief that the activity, policy, or practice reported violates this Code, a rule, or the law as described above, or impairs or endangers the solvency of the insurer. No such immunity shall apply to any report that is fraudulent or made in bad faith.  Employees who intentionally make fraudulent reports or make reports in bad faith shall be guilty of the crime of false swearing and subject to the penalties provided for in R.S. 14:125.

D.(1)  To the extent necessary to protect the anonymity of the employee who makes a written sworn report under this Section, the records of the commissioner of insurance or other state or law enforcement agency referring to the report shall be confidential for purposes of the state public records laws and are not subject to inspection or copying as a public record.

(2)  The Department of Insurance shall report the name of the employee to the insurer if the statement is determined by the commissioner of insurance to be false or made in bad faith.

E.  In addition to any other applicable penalties, any insurer found to be in violation of this Section shall be subject to a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars.

Acts 1993, No. 1033, §1; Redesignated from R.S. 22:13 by Acts 2008, No. 415, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2009; Acts 2009, No. 317, §1; Acts 2009, No. 503, §1; Acts 2009, No. 317, §1; Acts 2009, No. 503, §1.

NOTE:  Former R.S. 22:14 redesignated as R.S. 22:2261 by Acts 2008, No. 415, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2009.