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107TH 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 24, 2001

Mr. SESSIONS (for himself and Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas) 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:

8 (1) The Fair Credit Reporting Act, as inter9 preted by the Federal Trade Commission, impedes

10 investigations of workplace misconduct.
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1 (2) The Fair Credit Reporting Act undermines

2 the ability of employers to use experienced outside

3 organizations or individuals to investigate allegations

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

5 other types of harassment, employment discrimina6 tion, job safety and health violations, as well as

7 criminal activity, including theft, fraud, embezzle8 ment, sabotage or arson, patient or elder abuse,

9 child abuse, and other types of misconduct related to

10 employment.

11 (3) Employers have been advised by agencies

12 and the courts to utilize such experienced outside or13 ganizations and individuals in many cases to assure

14 compliance with civil rights laws and other laws, as

15 well as written workplace policies.

16 (4) Employees and consumers are put at risk

17 because the Fair Credit Reporting Act frustrates or

18 impedes employers in their efforts to maintain a safe

19 and productive workforce.

20 (5) The Fair Credit Reporting Act should not

21 chill the use of experienced outside organizations or

22 individuals to assist employers in their investigations

23 of workplace misconduct or misbehavior by poten24 tially subjecting those employers to additional liabil25 ities or damages.
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1 SEC. 2. CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS EXCLUDED FROM DEF2 INITION OF CONSUMER REPORT.

3 (a) AMENDMENT TO DEFINITION OF CONSUMER RE4 PORT.—Section 603(d)(2)(D) of the Fair Credit Report5 ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a(d)(2)(D)) is amended by insert6 ing ‘‘or (q)’’ after ‘‘subsection (o)’’.

7 (b) AMENDMENT RELATING TO EMPLOYMENT IN8 VESTIGATION REPORTS.—Section 603 of the Fair Credit

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

10 at the end the following new subsection:

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

12 ‘‘(1) SELF-REGULATORY ORGANIZATION DE13 FINED.—For purposes of this subsection, the term

14 ‘self-regulatory organization’ includes a self-regu15 latory organization (as defined in section 3(a)(26) of

16 the Securities Exchange Act of 1934), a board of

17 trade designated by the Commodity Futures Trading

18 Commission, and a futures association registered

19 with such Commission.

20 ‘‘(2) COMMUNICATIONS DESCRIBED IN THIS

21 SUBSECTION.—A communication is described in this

22 subsection if—

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

24 communication would be a consumer report;

25 ‘‘(B) the communication is made to an em26 ployer in connection with an investigation of—
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1 ‘‘(i) suspected misconduct relating to

2 employment; or

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

4 or local laws and regulations, the rules of

5 a self-regulatory organization, or any pre6 existing written policies of the employer;

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

8 the purpose of investigating a consumer’s credit

9 worthiness, credit standing, or credit capacity;

10 and

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

12 any person except—

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

14 the employer;

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

16 agency, or department, or any officer,

17 agency, or department of a unit of general

18 local government;

19 ‘‘(iii) to any self-regulatory organiza20 tion with regulatory authority over the ac21 tivities of the employer or employee;

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

23 ‘‘(v) pursuant to section 608.

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

25 any adverse action based in whole or in part on a
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1 communication described in paragraph (2), the em2 ployer shall disclose to the consumer a summary

3 containing the nature and substance of the commu4 nication upon which the adverse action is based.’’.

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