[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1543 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th 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 1, 2003
Mr. Sessions (for himself, Mr. Baker, Mr. Paul, Mr. Moore, Mr. Shays,
Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, and Mr. Royce)
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 Representatives 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 interpreted 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 discrimination, job safety and health violations, as
well as criminal activity, including theft, fraud,
embezzlement, 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 organizations 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 potentially subjecting those employers to
additional liabilities or damages.
SEC. 2. CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS EXCLUDED FROM DEFINITION OF CONSUMER
REPORT.
(a) Amendment to Definition of Consumer Report.--Section
603(d)(2)(D) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C.
1681a(d)(2)(D)) is amended by inserting ``or (q)'' after ``subsection
(o)''.
(b) Amendment Relating to Employment Investigation 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 defined.--For purposes
of this subsection, the term `self-regulatory organization'
includes any self-regulatory organization (as defined in
section 3(a)(26) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934), any
entity established under Title I of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of
2002, any board of trade designated by the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission, and any 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 employer 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
preexisting 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 organization
with regulatory authority over the activities
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 employer shall disclose to the consumer a
summary containing the nature and substance of the
communication upon which the adverse action is based, except
that the sources of information acquired solely for use in
preparing what would be but for subsection (d)(2)(D) an
investigative consumer report need not be disclosed.''.
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