If you use an external agency or an outside attorney to investigate harassment complaints or any type of employee misconduct beware�

In a letter dated April 5, 2026 to a private attorney in Vancouver Washington, Christopher W. Keller a Federal Trade Commission Attorney provided an opinion clarifying that the reporting and disclosure requirements in the Fair Credit Reporting Act apply to external investigations of sexual harassment claims. In his letter Mr. Keller states, "Section 603(f) of the FCRA defines a consumer reporting agency (CRA as any person which, for monetary fees, 'assembles or evaluates' credit information or other information on consumers for the purpose of regularly furnishing 'consumer reports' to third parties using any means or facility of interstate commerce. A 'consumer report' is, in turn, defined in Section 603(d)(1) as a report containing information bearing on an individual's 'character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living' that is used or expected to be used for the purpose of serving as a factor in establishing the consumer's eligibility for, among other things employment." Mr. Keller then makes the connection, by stating, "it seems reasonable clear that the outside organizations utilized by employers to assist in their investigations of harassment claims 'assemble or evaluate' information." The implication of this opinion letter is an Employer using external agencies or outside attorneys in employee misconduct or harassment investigations, will need to comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FRCA). Complying with the FCRA will place two burdens on the Employer outlined in Section 604(b)(2)(i)(ii):

1. a clear and conspicuous disclosure has been made in writing to the consumer at any time before the report is procured or caused to be procured, in a document that consists solely of the disclosure, that a consumer report may be obtained for employment purposes; and
2. the consumer has authorized in writing (which authorization may be made on the document referred to in clause (i)) the procurement of the report by that person.

For more information on the Fair Credit Reporting Act: http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcra.htm. For the complete text of the opinion letter: http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcra/vail.htm.

*Note: This article is intended for educational purposes only and should not be a substitute for specific legal advice. Before utilizing an external agency or outside attorney in your employee misconduct investigations, you should contact your labor attorney for clarification and a legal opinion.

Membership has its privileges. In addition to the newsletter, each year WSHHRA updates the membership directory, and as a reward to those who have paid their membership dues, we send out the new and improved membership directory. This year we have tried to wait until we received dues from everyone who intends to remain a member. Since some of the dues have been slowly trickling in, we waited awhile to send out the directory. Hopefully this delay has not caused any inconvenience to you!! Many thanks to those who quickly responded to the Membership Renewal. If you have not paid your dues and subsequently have not received a new membership directory; as soon as I receive the dues a new membership directory will be sent. We hope to send out the renewal forms earlier next year (January, 2000), so that we may send out directories earlier as well

There has been a lot of talk lately about Initiative 695. Most of the media attention and information has been centered on the Motor Vehicle Excise Tax (MVET) portion of the bill. However, it is the less talked about aspect of the bill addressing voter-approval requirements that means a rough road ahead for government, including Public Hospital Districts.

"The voter approval requirement is extremely broad", states Grover Cleveland of Foster Peeper & Shefelman. "It appears to cover virtually any payment to state or local governments, including charges for: photocopies, dog licenses, permit fees, utilities, regulatory fees, bus and ferry fares, park use fees, camping permits, greens fees at public golf courses, solid waste tipping fees, landing fees at municipal airports, tolls, emergency medical services, local improvement assessments, services from public hospitals, and taxes."

For Public Hospital District representatives, it is imperative to familiarize yourself and your citizenship about the impact to your organization if I-695 passes. The bill will affect hospital district taxes and charges for services at public health care facilities. For example, public hospital districts would have to seek voter approval to raise hospital room rates or to pass on increased costs from drug companies for medicines. All rate increases charged for patient services (patient charges, room rates, food, copies, etc.) will have to be voter approved on or after January 1, 2000.

If your hospital maintains any current levies, they will be frozen at the year 2000 amount collected. There will no adjustments for even new construction or re-appraised value. Bonds that have already been issued by jurisdictions could decline in value on the secondary market as a result of the uncertainty created by I-695. If I-695 passes, it will be significantly more difficult for governments to issue new bonds. I-695 could effectively eliminate the ability of many jurisdictions to issue new non-voted tax-backed bonds.

Start Preparing Now

To learn more about the initiative and what you can do to protect your organization, visit the www.foster.com website or read the article in the August 1999 Bulleting from Foster Pepper & Shefelman, PLLC, Attorneys at Law. Additional information on I-695 is available on the Municipal Research & Services Center (MRSC) website: www.mrsc.org.

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