II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1981 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit the use of consumer 

credit checks against prospective and current employees for the purposes 

of making adverse employment decisions. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 5, 2015 

Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. 

MENENDEZ, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. BROWN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. FRANKEN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. 

SCHATZ, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. MURPHY, Ms. HIRONO, and Mr. MARKEY) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit the 

use of consumer credit checks against prospective and 

current employees for the purposes of making adverse 

employment decisions. 

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Equal Employment 

5 for All Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. USE OF CREDIT CHECKS PROHIBITED FOR EMPLOY2 MENT PURPOSES. 

3 (a) PROHIBITION FOR EMPLOYMENT AND ADVERSE

4 ACTION.—Section 604 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act 

5 (15 U.S.C. 1681b) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)(3)(B), by inserting ‘‘within 

7 the restrictions set forth in subsection (b)’’ after 

8 ‘‘purposes’’; 

9 (2) by redesignating subsections (b) through (g) 

10 as subsections (c) through (h), respectively; and 

11 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol12 lowing new subsection: 

13 ‘‘(b) USE OF CERTAIN CONSUMER REPORT PROHIB14 ITED FOR EMPLOYMENT PURPOSES OR ADVERSE AC15 TION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) GENERAL PROHIBITION.—Except as pro17 vided in paragraph (3), a person, including a pro18 spective employer or current employer, may not use 

19 a consumer report or investigative consumer report, 

20 or cause a consumer report or investigative con21 sumer report to be procured, with respect to any 

22 consumer where any information contained in the re23 port bears on the creditworthiness, credit standing, 

24 or credit capacity of the consumer— 

25 ‘‘(A) for employment purposes; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) for making an adverse action, as de2 scribed in section 603(k)(1)(B)(ii). 

3 ‘‘(2) SOURCE OF CONSUMER REPORT IRRELE4 VANT.—The prohibition described in paragraph (1) 

5 shall apply even if the consumer consents or other6 wise authorizes the procurement or use of a con7 sumer report for employment purposes or in connec8 tion with an adverse action with respect to the con9 sumer. 

10 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding the prohi11 bitions set forth in this subsection, and consistent 

12 with the other sections of this Act, an employer may 

13 use a consumer report with respect to a consumer 

14 in the following situations: 

15 ‘‘(A) When the consumer applies for, or 

16 currently holds, employment that requires na17 tional security clearance. 

18 ‘‘(B) When otherwise required by law. 

19 ‘‘(4) EFFECT ON DISCLOSURE AND NOTIFICA20 TION REQUIREMENTS.—The exceptions described in 

21 paragraph (3) shall have no effect upon the other re22 quirements of this Act, including requirements in re23 gards to disclosure and notification to a consumer 

24 when permissibly using a consumer report for emVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:18 Aug 12, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1981.IS S1981

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1 ployment purposes or for making an adverse action 

2 against the consumer.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS AND CROSS REF4 ERENCES.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act is further 

5 amended as follows: 

6 (1) In section 603 (15 U.S.C. 1681a)— 

7 (A) in subsection (d)(3), by striking 

8 ‘‘604(g)(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘604(h)(3)’’; and 

9 (B) in subsection (o), by striking ‘‘A’’ and 

10 inserting ‘‘Subject to the restrictions set forth 

11 in subsection 604(b), a’’. 

12 (2) In section 604 (15 U.S.C. 1681b)— 

13 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘sub14 section (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (d)’’; 

15 (B) in subsection (c), as redesignated by 

16 subsection (a)(2) of this section— 

17 (i) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting 

18 ‘‘and subject to the restrictions set forth in 

19 subsection (b)’’ after ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’; 

20 and 

21 (ii) in paragraph (3)(A), by inserting 

22 ‘‘and subject to the restrictions set forth in 

23 subsection (b)’’ after ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’; 

24 (C) in subsection (d)(1), as redesignated 

25 by subsection (a)(2) of this section, by striking 


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1 ‘‘subsection (e)’’ in both places that term ap2 pears and inserting ‘‘subsection (f)’’; and 

3 (D) in subsection (f), as redesignated by 

4 subsection (a)(2) of this section— 

5 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sub6 section (c)(1)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub7 section (d)(1)(B)’’; and 

8 (ii) in paragraph (5), by striking 

9 ‘‘subsection (c)(1)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub10 section (d)(1)(B)’’. 

11 (3) In section 607(e)(3)(A) (15 U.S.C. 

12 1681e(e)(3)(A)), by striking ‘‘604(b)(4)(E)(i)’’ and 

13 inserting ‘‘604(c)(4)(E)(i)’’. 

14 (4) In section 609 (15 U.S.C. 1681g)— 

15 (A) in subsection (a)(3)(C)(i), by striking 

16 ‘‘604(b)(4)(E)(i)’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘604(c)(4)(E)(i)’’; and 

18 (B) in subsection (a)(3)(C)(ii), by striking 

19 ‘‘604(b)(4)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘604(c)(4)(A)’’. 

20 (5) In section 613(b) (15 U.S.C. 1681k(b)) by 

21 striking section ‘‘604(b)(4)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘sec22 tion 604(c)(4)(A)’’. 

23 (6) In section 615 (15 U.S.C. 1681m)— 


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1 (A) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘sec2 tion 604(c)(1)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

3 604(d)(1)(B)’’; 

4 (B) in subsection (d)(1)(E), by striking 

5 ‘‘section 604(e)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

6 604(f)’’; and 

7 (C) in subsection (d)(2)(A), by striking 

8 ‘‘section 604(e)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

9 604(f)’’. 

Æ 


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