I
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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Civil Rights and Employee Investigation Clarification
Act’’.
(b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as follows:
(1) The Fair Credit Reporting Act, as inter-
preted by the Federal Trade Commission, impedes
investigations of workplace misconduct.
(2) The Fair Credit Reporting Act undermines
the ability of employers to use experienced outside
organizations or individuals to investigate allegations
of drug use or sales, violence, sexual harassment,
other types of harassment, employment discrimina-
tion, job safety and health violations, as well as
criminal activity, including theft, fraud, embezzle-
ment, sabotage or arson, patient or elder abuse,
child abuse, and other types of misconduct related to
employment.
(3) Employers have been advised by agencies
and the courts to utilize such experienced outside or-
ganizations and individuals in many cases to assure
compliance with civil rights laws and other laws, as
well as written workplace policies.
(4) Employees and consumers are put at risk
because the Fair Credit Reporting Act frustrates or
impedes employers in their efforts to maintain a safe
and productive workforce.
(5) The Fair Credit Reporting Act should not
chill the use of experienced outside organizations or
individuals to assist employers in their investigations
of workplace misconduct or misbehavior by poten-
tially subjecting those employers to additional liabil-
ities or damages.
SEC. 2. CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS EXCLUDED FROM DEF-
INITION OF CONSUMER REPORT.
(a) AMENDMENT TO DEFINITION OF CONSUMER RE-
PORT.—Section 603(d)(2)(D) of the Fair Credit Report-
ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a(d)(2)(D)) is amended by insert-
ing ‘‘or (q)’’ after ‘‘subsection (o)’’.
(b) AMENDMENT RELATING TO EMPLOYMENT IN-
VESTIGATION REPORTS.—Section 603 of the Fair Credit
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a) is amended by adding
at the end the following new subsection:
‘‘(q) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS.—
‘‘(1) SELF-REGULATORY
ORGANIZATION
DE-
FINED.—For purposes of this subsection, the term
‘self-regulatory organization’ includes a self-regu-
latory organization (as defined in section 3(a)(26) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934), a board of
trade designated by the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission, and a futures association registered
with such Commission.
‘‘(2) COMMUNICATIONS
DESCRIBED
IN
THIS
SUBSECTION.—A communication is described in this
subsection if—
‘‘(A) but for subsection (d)(2)(D), the
communication would be a consumer report;
‘‘(B) the communication is made to an em-
ployer in connection with an investigation of—
‘‘(i) suspected misconduct relating to
employment; or
‘‘(ii) compliance with Federal, State,
or local laws and regulations, the rules of
a self-regulatory organization, or any pre-
existing written policies of the employer;
‘‘(C) the communication is not made for
the purpose of investigating a consumer’s credit
worthiness, credit standing, or credit capacity;
and
‘‘(D) the communication is not provided to
any person except—
‘‘(i) to the employer or an agent of
the employer;
‘‘(ii) to any Federal or State officer,
agency, or department, or any officer,
agency, or department of a unit of general
local government;
‘‘(iii) to any self-regulatory organiza-
tion with regulatory authority over the ac-
tivities of the employer or employee;
‘‘(iv) as otherwise required by law; or
‘‘(v) pursuant to section 608.
‘‘(3) SUBSEQUENT DISCLOSURE.—After taking
any adverse action based in whole or in part on a
communication described in paragraph (2), the em-
ployer shall disclose to the consumer a summary
containing the nature and substance of the commu-
nication upon which the adverse action is based.’’.
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