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. HIN-
CHEY, 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Equal Employment 
for All Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. USE OF CREDIT CHECKS PROHIBITED FOR EMPLOY-
MENT PURPOSES. 
(a) PROHIBITION FOR EMPLOYMENT AND ADVERSE 
ACTION.—Section 604 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act 
(15 U.S.C. 1681b) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(3)(B), by inserting ‘‘within 
the restrictions set forth in subsection (b)’’ after 
‘‘purposes’’; 
(2) by redesignating subsections (b) through (g) 
as subsections (c) through (h), respectively; and 
(3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(b) USE OF CERTAIN CONSUMER REPORT PROHIB-
ITED FOR EMPLOYMENT PURPOSES OR ADVERSE AC-
TION.— 
‘‘(1) GENERAL PROHIBITION.—Except as pro-
vided in paragraph (3), a person, including a pro-
spective employer or current employer, may not use 
a consumer report or investigative consumer report, 
or cause a consumer report or investigative con-
sumer report to be procured, with respect to any 
consumer where any information contained in the re-
port bears on the consumer’s creditworthiness, credit 
standing, or credit capacity— 
‘‘(A) for employment purposes; or 
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‘‘(B) for making an adverse action, as de-
scribed in section 603(k)(1)(B)(ii). 
‘‘(2) SOURCE OF CONSUMER REPORT IRRELE-
VANT.—The prohibition described in paragraph (1) 
shall apply even if the consumer consents or other-
wise authorizes the procurement or use of a con-
sumer report for employment purposes or in connec-
tion with an adverse action with respect to such con-
sumer. 
‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding the prohi-
bitions set forth in this subsection, and consistent 
with the other sections of this Act, an employer may 
use a consumer report with respect to a consumer 
in the following situations: 
‘‘(A) When the consumer applies for, or 
currently holds, employment that requires na-
tional security or FDIC clearance. 
‘‘(B) When the consumer applies for, or 
currently holds, employment with a State or 
local government agency which otherwise re-
quires use of a consumer report. 
‘‘(C) When the consumer applies for, or 
currently holds, a supervisory, managerial, pro-
fessional, or executive position at a financial in-
stitution. 
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‘‘(D) When otherwise required by law. 
‘‘(4) EFFECT ON DISCLOSURE AND NOTIFICA-
TION REQUIREMENTS.—The exceptions described in 
paragraph (3) shall have no effect upon the other re-
quirements of this Act, including requirements in re-
gards to disclosure and notification to a consumer 
when permissibly using a consumer report for em-
ployment purposes or for making an adverse action 
against such consumer.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS AND CROSS REF-
ERENCES.—Such Act is further amended as follows: 
(1) In section 603 (15 U.S.C. 1681a)— 
(A) in subsection (d)(3), by striking 
‘‘604(g)(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘604(h)(3)’’; and 
(B) in subsection (o), by striking ‘‘A’’ and 
inserting ‘‘Subject to the restrictions set forth 
in section 604(b), a’’. 
(2) In section 604 (15 U.S.C. 1681b)— 
(A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘sub-
section (c)’’and inserting ‘‘subsection (d)’’; 
(B) in subsection (c), as redesignated by 
subsection (a)(2) of this section— 
(i) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting 
‘‘and subject to the restrictions set forth in 
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subsection (b)’’ after ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’; 
and 
(ii) in paragraph (3)(A), by inserting 
‘‘and subject to the restrictions set forth in 
subsection (b)’’ after ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’; 
(C) in subsection (d)(1), as redesignated 
by subsection (a)(2) of this section, by striking 
‘‘subsection (e)’’ in both places it appears and 
inserting ‘‘subsection (f)’’; 
(D) in subsection (f), as redesignated by 
subsection (a)(2) of this section— 
(i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sub-
section (c)(1)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub-
section (d)(1)(B)’’; and 
(ii) in paragraph (5), by striking 
‘‘subsection (c)(1)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub-
section (d)(1)(B)’’. 
(3) 
In 
section 
607(e)(3)(A) 
(15 
U.S.C. 
1681e(e)(3)(A)), by striking ‘‘604(b)(4)(E)(i)’’ and 
inserting ‘‘604(c)(4)(E)(i)’’. 
(4) In section 609 (15 U.S.C. 1681g)— 
(A) in subsection (a)(3)(C)(i), by striking 
‘‘604(b)(4)(E)(i)’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘604(c)(4)(E)(i)’’; and 
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(B) in subsection (a)(3)(C)(ii), by striking 
‘‘604(b)(4)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘604(c)(4)(A)’’. 
(5) In section 613(a) (15 U.S.C. 1681k(a)) by 
striking ‘‘section 604(b)(4)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘sec-
tion 604(c)(4)(A)’’. 
(6) In section 615 (15 U.S.C. 1681m)— 
(A) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘sec-
tion 604(c)(1)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 
604(d)(1)(B)’’; 
(B) in subsection (d)(1)(E), by striking 
‘‘section 
604(e)’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘section 
604(f)’’; and 
(C) in subsection (d)(2)(A), by striking 
‘‘section 
604(e)’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘section 
604(f)’’. 
Æ 
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