2017 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 8 - Public Officers and Employees
CHAPTER 27 - EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION FOR REPORTS OF VIOLATIONS OF STATE OR FEDERAL LAW OR REGULATION
Section 8-27-30. Civil action against employing public body for retaliation; remedies; exhaustion of remedies and other prerequisites; time in which to bring action.
(A) If an employee is dismissed, suspended from employment, demoted, or receives a decrease in compensation, within one year after having timely reported an alleged wrongdoing under this chapter, the employee may institute a nonjury civil action against the employing public body for (1) reinstatement to his former position; (2) lost wages; (3) actual damages not to exceed fifteen thousand dollars; and (4) reasonable attorney fees as determined by the court, but this award of attorney fees may not exceed ten thousand dollars for any trial and five thousand dollars for any appeal. The action must be brought in the court of common pleas of the county in which the employment action occurred. No action may be brought under this chapter unless (1) the employee has exhausted all available grievance or other administrative remedies; and (2) any previous proceedings have resulted in a finding that the employee would not have been disciplined but for the reporting of alleged wrongdoing.
(B) An action under this chapter must be commenced within one year after the accrual of the cause of action or exhaustion of all available grievance or other administrative and judicial remedies or is forever barred.
HISTORY: 1988 Act No. 354, eff March 14, 1988; 1993 Act No. 164, Part II, Section 37C, eff June 21, 1993, and applies with respect to any personnel actions taken after that date.
Effect of Amendment
The 1993 amendment made several revisions, including eliminating the presumption that adverse personnel actions within one year after reporting misconduct are wrongful, specifying remedies, requiring exhaustion of administrative remedies, requiring that the action be bought in the county where the action allegedly occurred, and shortening the time for bringing an action from two years to one.
