Prohibition on retaliation for cooperation with the office; exceptions; criminal penalty for violation thereof

(a) (1) Except as provided by paragraph (2), no retaliatory action shall knowingly be taken against any child or employee of the Kansas department for children and families, an employee of the department's contracting agencies or the department of corrections for any communication made or information given to the office. Violation of this paragraph is a class A nonperson misdemeanor. (2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to an employee who discloses: (A) Information that such employee knows to be false or information without regard for the truth or falsity of the information; or (B) without lawful authority, information that is confidential as provided by any other provision of law. (b) An employee of the office of the child advocate shall not knowingly disclose false information or disclose confidential information without lawful authority. (c) As used in this section, "retaliatory action" includes, but is not limited to: (1) Letters of reprimand or unsatisfactory performance evaluations; (2) transfer; (3) demotion; (4) reduction in pay; (5) denial of promotion; (6) suspension; (7) dismissal; and (8) denial of employment.