I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1543

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to exempt certain communications 

from the definition of consumer report, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 1, 2003

Mr. SESSIONS (for himself, Mr. BAKER, Mr. PAUL, Mr. MOORE, Mr. SHAYS, 

Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, and Mr. 

ROYCE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to exempt certain 

communications from the definition of consumer report, 

and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Civil Rights and Employee Investigation Clarification 

6 Act’’. 

7 (b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as follows: 
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1 (1) The Fair Credit Reporting Act, as inter2 preted by the Federal Trade Commission, impedes 

3 investigations of workplace misconduct. 

4 (2) The Fair Credit Reporting Act undermines 

5 the ability of employers to use experienced outside 

6 organizations or individuals to investigate allegations 

7 of drug use or sales, violence, sexual harassment, 

8 other types of harassment, employment discrimina9 tion, job safety and health violations, as well as 

10 criminal activity, including theft, fraud, embezzle11 ment, sabotage or arson, patient or elder abuse, 

12 child abuse, and other types of misconduct related to 

13 employment. 

14 (3) Employers have been advised by agencies 

15 and the courts to utilize such experienced outside or16 ganizations and individuals in many cases to assure 

17 compliance with civil rights laws and other laws, as 

18 well as written workplace policies. 

19 (4) Employees and consumers are put at risk 

20 because the Fair Credit Reporting Act frustrates or 

21 impedes employers in their efforts to maintain a safe 

22 and productive workforce. 

23 (5) The Fair Credit Reporting Act should not 

24 chill the use of experienced outside organizations or 

25 individuals to assist employers in their investigations 
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1 of workplace misconduct or misbehavior by poten2 tially subjecting those employers to additional liabil3 ities or damages. 

4 SEC. 2. CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS EXCLUDED FROM DEF5 INITION OF CONSUMER REPORT. 

6 (a) AMENDMENT TO DEFINITION OF CONSUMER RE7 PORT.—Section 603(d)(2)(D) of the Fair Credit Report8 ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a(d)(2)(D)) is amended by insert9 ing ‘‘or (q)’’ after ‘‘subsection (o)’’. 

10 (b) AMENDMENT RELATING TO EMPLOYMENT IN11 VESTIGATION REPORTS.—Section 603 of the Fair Credit 

12 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a) is amended by adding 

13 at the end the following new subsection: 

14 ‘‘(q) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS.—

15 ‘‘(1) SELF-REGULATORY ORGANIZATION DE16 FINED.—For purposes of this subsection, the term 

17 ‘self-regulatory organization’ includes any self-regu18 latory organization (as defined in section 3(a)(26) of 

19 the Securities Exchange Act of 1934), any entity es20 tablished under Title I of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 

21 2002, any board of trade designated by the Com22 modity Futures Trading Commission, and any fu23 tures association registered with such Commission. 
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1 ‘‘(2) COMMUNICATIONS DESCRIBED IN THIS

2 SUBSECTION.—A communication is described in this 

3 subsection if—

4 ‘‘(A) but for subsection (d)(2)(D), the 

5 communication would be a consumer report; 

6 ‘‘(B) the communication is made to an em7 ployer in connection with an investigation of—

8 ‘‘(i) suspected misconduct relating to 

9 employment; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) compliance with Federal, State, 

11 or local laws and regulations, the rules of 

12 a self-regulatory organization, or any pre13 existing written policies of the employer; 

14 ‘‘(C) the communication is not made for 

15 the purpose of investigating a consumer’s credit 

16 worthiness, credit standing, or credit capacity; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(D) the communication is not provided to 

19 any person except—

20 ‘‘(i) to the employer or an agent of 

21 the employer; 

22 ‘‘(ii) to any Federal or State officer, 

23 agency, or department, or any officer, 

24 agency, or department of a unit of general 

25 local government; 
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1 ‘‘(iii) to any self-regulatory organiza2 tion with regulatory authority over the ac3 tivities of the employer or employee; 

4 ‘‘(iv) as otherwise required by law; or 

5 ‘‘(v) pursuant to section 608. 

6 ‘‘(3) SUBSEQUENT DISCLOSURE.—After taking 

7 any adverse action based in whole or in part on a 

8 communication described in paragraph (2), the em9 ployer shall disclose to the consumer a summary 

10 containing the nature and substance of the commu11 nication upon which the adverse action is based, ex12 cept that the sources of information acquired solely 

13 for use in preparing what would be but for sub14 section (d)(2)(D) an investigative consumer report 

15 need not be disclosed.’’.

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