I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 321 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 19, 2011 

Mr. COHEN (for himself, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, 

Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. GRIJALVA, 

Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. FUDGE, 

Mr. HONDA, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. FILNER, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Ms. 

EDWARDS, Ms. WOOLSEY, and Mr. ELLISON) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

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’’. 


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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 consumer’s creditworthiness, credit 

24 standing, or credit capacity— 

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 such 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 or FDIC clearance. 

18 ‘‘(B) When the consumer applies for, or 

19 currently holds, employment with a State or 

20 local government agency which otherwise re21 quires use of a consumer report. 

22 ‘‘(C) When the consumer applies for, or 

23 currently holds, a supervisory, managerial, pro24 fessional, or executive position at a financial in25 stitution. 


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1 ‘‘(D) When otherwise required by law. 

2 ‘‘(4) EFFECT ON DISCLOSURE AND NOTIFICA3 TION REQUIREMENTS.—The exceptions described in 

4 paragraph (3) shall have no effect upon the other re5 quirements of this Act, including requirements in re6 gards to disclosure and notification to a consumer 

7 when permissibly using a consumer report for em8 ployment purposes or for making an adverse action 

9 against such consumer.’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS AND CROSS REF11 ERENCES.—Such Act is further amended as follows: 

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

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

14 ‘‘604(g)(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘604(h)(3)’’; and 

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

16 inserting ‘‘Subject to the restrictions set forth 

17 in section 604(b), a’’. 

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

19 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘sub20 section (c)’’and inserting ‘‘subsection (d)’’; 

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

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

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

24 ‘‘and subject to the restrictions set forth in 


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

2 and 

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

4 ‘‘and subject to the restrictions set forth in 

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

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

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

8 ‘‘subsection (e)’’ in both places it appears and 

9 inserting ‘‘subsection (f)’’; 

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

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

12 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sub13 section (c)(1)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub14 section (d)(1)(B)’’; and 

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

16 ‘‘subsection (c)(1)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub17 section (d)(1)(B)’’. 

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

19 1681e(e)(3)(A)), by striking ‘‘604(b)(4)(E)(i)’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘604(c)(4)(E)(i)’’. 

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

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

23 ‘‘604(b)(4)(E)(i)’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘604(c)(4)(E)(i)’’; and 


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

2 ‘‘604(b)(4)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘604(c)(4)(A)’’. 

3 (5) In section 613(a) (15 U.S.C. 1681k(a)) by 

4 striking ‘‘section 604(b)(4)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘sec5 tion 604(c)(4)(A)’’. 

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

7 (A) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘sec8 tion 604(c)(1)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

9 604(d)(1)(B)’’; 

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

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

12 604(f)’’; and 

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

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

15 604(f)’’. 

Æ 


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