Privacy Issues in the Community College Workplace

ii. Restrictions on Information in Consumer Report There are strict limitations on the types of information that may be included in a consumer report. 61 The following is a list of the categories of information which must be excluded:  Cases under Title 11 or under the Bankruptcy Act that, from the date of entry of the order for relief or the date of adjudication, as the case may be, pre-date or precede the report by more than 10 years.  Civil suits, civil judgments, and records of arrest that, from date of entry, pre-date or precede the report by more than seven years or until the governing statute of limitations has expired, whichever is the longer period.  Paid tax liens which, from date of payment, pre-date or precede the report by more than seven years.  Accounts placed for collection or charged to profit and loss which pre-date or precede the report by more than seven years.  Any other adverse item of information, other than records of convictions of crimes which pre-dates or precedes the report by more than seven years. The above limitations do not apply when a report will be used in connection with the employment of any individual at an annual salary which exceeds $75,000. 62 In any case, a consumer-reporting agency is prohibited from furnishing an employer with a report containing medical information unless the applicant consents. 63 The FCRA does not identify the requirements for such consent, but we recommend that it be in writing, signed by the applicant, and be drafted in conformity with the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, discussed later in this workbook. Also, employers are cautioned not to seek medical information until after a conditional offer of employment has been made. b. The Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act The Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act (ICRA) 64 is California legislation which, in many respects, mirrors the Fair Credit Reporting Act (above.)

Note: Unlike the FCRA, even if an employer conducts reference checks itself, and does not employ the services of a consumer- reporting agency, the employer may still be subject to the Act though the requirements are less onerous when reference checks are conducted in-house. 65

The requirements of the Act are triggered when an employer utilizes an “investigative consumer reporting agency” (ICRA) to prepare an “investigative consumer report” regarding a “consumer”:

 An ICRA is statutorily defined as “any person who for, monetary fees or dues, engages in whole or in part in the practice of collecting, assembling, evaluating, compiling, reporting, transmitting, transferring, or communicating information concerning consumers for the purposes of

Privacy Issues in the Community College Workplace ©2019 (c) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 24