[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1543 Introduced in House (IH)]







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 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 a self-regulatory 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 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.''.
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