NEWSLETTER for January 2000 Vol. 6 Issue 1

Transcription

1 American Society for Industrial Security San Francisco Bay Area Chapter Luncheon Speaker The Impact of Domestic Violence on the Workplace By David Lee and Guest Speaker Sasha Morgan NEWSLETTER for January 2000 Vol. 6 Issue 1 Legislative Update Amendment Bill (HR3408) before Congress frees employers to perform limited investigations without waiting for employee permission By James Cawood View from the Chair Welcome to 2000, about new officers, & St. Patrick's Day By Kathy Goelkel ASIS Policy on Professional Conduct A reminder of what is acceptable during meetings and chapter events. Treasurer's Report Generate HR3408 Letter Online form that creates a personalized letter for you to mail into your Representative in support of HR3408. Pre-Paid Luncheon Fees Save money by pre-paying for your lunches for the remainder of the year. General Membership Minutes Luncheon Speaker Mr. David Lee, the Director of Community Education for the Support Network for Battered Women will be appearing at the Sunnyvale Hilton on Thursday, January 20, 2000, at noon, to speak on the topic of "The Impact of Domestic Violence on the Workplace". He will be joined by Sasha Morgan, the Support Network's Director of the Legal Program. They will also discuss the dynamics of abusive relationships; restraining orders, and resources regarding domestic violence.

2 David S. Lee, MPH, is the Director of Community Education for the Support Network for Battered Women in Santa Clara County, California. An active advocate to end family violence, David chairs the Community Education Committee of the Santa Clara County Domestic Violence Council. David has been involved in the movement to end domestic violence since He focuses on prevention and the development of community responses to end domestic violence. He has spoken at conferences throughout the country on violence prevention. He has provided training to educators, health care professionals, law enforcement, clergy, religious leaders, social workers, therapists, business leaders, youth and community organizations on the response to domestic violence. Sasha Morgan, Esq. is the Director of the Legal Program at the Support Network for Battered Women. She has extensive experience in domestic violence and public interest law. Sasha chairs the Santa Clara County Domestic Violence Council's AWARE committee that coordinates a program to distribute in-home alarms for victims of domestic violence. Chairman's Corner Welcome to ASIS in the Year 2000! I would like to wish everyone a wonderful New Year, and ask that each of you help the other new Chapter Officers and myself to guide our chapter in the direction you, the members, wish to see it move in for the new millennium. Please welcome Ron Sathre as Vice- Chair, Dan Wachtler as Secretary and Lynette Foulger as Treasurer for the Year We are excited to be serving the Chapter, and we would like to encourage you to contact us with your ideas and hopes for the Chapter s success in the coming year. Just go to the section Chapter Officers and send us an or give us a call! The majority of our meetings this coming year will be located at the Sunnyvale Hilton, which has proved to be an accommodating location that has been well received by the membership. Our January meeting will be held there on Thursday, January 20 th, with Registration at 11:30, Lunch at noon, preceded by a Chapter Executive Council Meeting for all Committee Chairs beginning at 9 a.m. I would like to extend an invitation to any members who would like to volunteer in some capacity this year to join us at 10 a.m. to find out about volunteer opportunities. We already have active committees working on the March 17th St. Patrick s Day Law Enforcement Appreciation Luncheon to be held at the Sunnyvale Hilton and the May 18th SFBA Annual Seminar and Exhibits at the San Mateo Convention Center, and committees are forming to provide the Chapter will all the support it needs to continue running in the great SFBA tradition. We need your help, and we will accept any amount of time you are willing to give. It is also an excellent opportunity to work closely with others in the Security field and develop new friendships and new ideas. By Kathy Goelkel I look forward to seeing you on January 20th

3 ASIS International has adopted a position on professional conduct at chapter meetings for members who supply goods or services: As an organization of professional security practitioners, it is desirable that chapter meetings be held in an atmosphere free of uninvited commercial distractions. ASIS endorses a policy that prohibits members who provide and sell security or consulting services from initiating a sales effort immediately before, during, or after a chapter meeting while at the meeting location. Adherence to this policy will result in maintaining an atmosphere in which members are able to discuss matters affecting their profession without being the object of a sales presentation. This policy does not prohibit an organized program wherein a service company may present the program from that day, nor does it prevent a member in the service industry from responding to an inquiry. Treasurer's Report for December, 1999 Previous Balance as of November 1, 1999 $35, Total Income to Checking $10, Disbursements from Checking $9, Income to Savings $32.82 Disbursements from Savings $0.00 Total Chapter Funds as of November 30, 1999 $35, by Kathy Goelkel SFBA Treasurer Legislative Update Legislative Committee Report James S. Cawood, CPP Chairman

4 As many of you are aware, the Fair Credit Reporting Act or FCRA was amended three years ago and these amendments affected both every pre-employment investigation and every post employment investigation of employee mis-conduct. Much has been written and discussed about these changes, but the purpose of this column is to inform you that a bill has been introduced into the Congress to amend the law in a way which will repair much of the damage which has been created in the post-employment arena. H.R needs the support of every company and security professional to make this change a reality. Below I have attached the statement of Congressman Sessions when he introduced the bill, which might be of great interest to your legal counsel or senior management, as well as the bill itself for reference. I have also provided a sample letter which was drafted by the National Council of Investigative and Security Services (NCISS) for use by anyone who might want to send a letter to their Representatives in support of this bill. Letters have a tremendous impact on Congressman, while s are not as effective. I would encourage those interested to get involved and send hard-copy letters to their Congressional Representatives. To generate a personalized letter to mail into your Representative, please click on this link. Statement of Congressman Pete Sessions upon introduction of the Fair Credit Reporting Amendments Act of 1999: Mr. Speaker, today I introduce legislation to provide a technical clarification of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This clarification is necessary to protect workers and small businesses from unsafe work conditions and to root out illegal activity in the workplace. Provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) as amended in 1996 undermine investigations of sexual harassment, embezzlement, workplace violence, drug sales and other illegal activities in the workplace. Because of an interpretation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of the 1996 FCRA amendments, employers who retain investigators, attorneys, or others to conduct inquiries into unlawful activities subject themselves to the provisions of the Act and must: Provide notice before initiating an investigation Obtain written authorization from the suspect and other employees Upon request, disclose the nature and scope of the investigation Prior to taking any adverse action against an employee, provide the employee a complete and unedited copy of the investigative report. When the FCRA amendments were passed in 1996, Congress did not intend for such burdensome restrictions to be placed on employers who seek to provide safe, crime free workplaces for their employees. The Occupational Safety and Health Act requires employers to provide a safe and secure workplace. And Civil rights laws require employers to investigate allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination. Yet, the FCRA makes such inquiries impossible. Even if the employer is able to persuade a suspect employee to consent to an investigation, the investigation could still be thwarted by the accused who may be able to cover his tracks. Even more important is the chilling effect of providing investigative reports to suspected miscreants. What witness will be forthcoming when they find out the accused will know who spoke to the investigator? What is the logic of asking a deranged employee if you can investigate him?

5 Americans are all concerned with the rise in incidences of workplace violence, including killings this month in Seattle, Washington and Honolulu, Hawaii. At a time when we are all concerned about workplace violence, the FCRA is tying the hands of employers who attempt to protect their employees. The application of the FCRA is far broader than Congress intended when the law was amended in It now undercuts virtually all workplace investigations and may impact on legitimate inquiries outside of the workplace as well. Congress needs to make clear that these investigations are not covered by the Act. The legislation I introduce today, the Fair Credit Reporting Amendments of 1999, has been drafted through a careful bipartisan process. Concerns from consumer groups and the FTC were incorporated into the final draft of this legislation. The legislation removes the requirement of employee consent for an employer to investigate a limited number of illegal or unsafe activities in the workplace. Theses limited activities include drug use or sales, violence, sexual harassment, employment discrimination, job safety or health violations, criminal activity including theft, embezzlement, sabotage, arson, patient or elder abuse, and child abuse. Additionally, should an employer seek to use such a report to take any action against an employee, the employer must inform the employee that a report was prepared as well as the nature and substance of the report. This is important legislation that should be considered early in the next session of Congress. I urge my Colleagues to join as cosponsors and push for speedy passage of this bill to reduce crime and provide safer workplaces. 106TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Mr. SESSIONS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Banking And Financial services A BILL To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to exempt certain investigative reports 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. This Act may be cited as the ''Fair Credit Reporting Amendments Act of 1999''. November 16, 1999 SEC. 2. CERTAIN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS EXCLUDED FROM DEFINITION OF CONSUMER REPORT. (a) IN GENERAL.-Section 603(d)(2)(A) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a(d)(2)(A)) is amended- (1) by striking ''or'' at the end of clause (ii); and (2) by inserting after clause (iii) the following new clauses: ''(iv) report, subject to section 609(d), prepared by an employee or agent of a consumer's employer solely for the purpose of investigating allegations of drug use or sales, violence, sexual harassment,

6 employment discrimination, job safety or health violations, criminal activity including theft, embezzlement, sabotage, arson, patient or elder abuse, child abuse, or other violations of law; or ''(v) report prepared in connection with litigation, anticipation of litigation, due diligence, investigation of insurance claims, civil and criminal fraud, failure to pay child support, or any other violations of law;''. (b) DISCLOSURES TO CONSUMER.-Section 609 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: ''(d) CONDITIONS ON USE FOR ADVERSE ACTIONS.-With respect to any report described in section 603(d)(2)(A)(iv) relating to an employee- ''(1) before taking any adverse action based in whole or in part on such report, the person intending to take such adverse action shall disclose to the employee the nature and substance of the information in the report on which the proposed adverse action is based; and ''(2) if any action is brought by the employee, the information in the report shall be available to the plaintiff under appropriate discovery procedures of the court in which such action is brought. SAMPLE LETTER The Honorable United States House of Representatives Washington D.C Re: HR 3408 Fair Credit Reporting Amendments Act of 1999 Dear Representative As a constituent, I am writing to request that you support HR 3408 with your vote and by adding your name as a co-sponsor. This critical legislation will remedy the unintended consequences which resulted from the amendments to the Fair Credit Reporting Act in The requirements of the 1996 amendments pose a serious threat to worker safety and have had a chilling effect on violence, drug abuse and sexual harassment investigations in the workplace. This situation cries out for a bipartisan, common sense correction such as has been proposed by Representative Sessions and others of both parties, in this amendment. Please have your staff contact Martin McGuinness of Representative Sessions' office at (202) Thank you very much for your attention and support. Yours truly, James Cawood To generate a personalized letter to mail into your Representative, please click on this link.

7 Pre-Pay Your Lunch Fees for the Remainder of the Year! During the month of January, we are giving members an opportunity to prepay your ASIS meeting fees for the remainder of the year. Pay a one-time fee of $ and you will be pre-registered and prepaid for the following ASIS lunch meetings: February 17, 2000 April 20, 2000 June 15, 2000 July 20, 2000 November 16, 2000 December 21, 2000 Your prepaid registration is transferable to someone in your firm if you are unable to attend a particular meeting. Save the hassles of pre-registration and individual checks or charge slips. Pay for the year at the January 2000 meeting or contact: 2000 Hospitality Chair Kendra Ahlquist. Please note: Special Events such as Annual Seminar & Exhibits, Golf Tournament, and Security Officer Recognition Day require separate registration and are not included in this package. General Committee Meeting Minutes SFBA General Meeting Minutes Thursday, December 17, The meeting was called to order by Chapter Chair Kathy Schnake, CPP. Ms Schnake opened the meeting by introducing new members and welcoming guests. 2. Chairman Schnake gave a presentation regarding the highlights of the past year. 3. Chairman Schnake gave special thanks awards to Steve Duell, our web site designer and Ina Yam, who supported Brad Wilson and the chapter efforts tremendously, for their participation over the past year. 4. Chairman Schnake also gave out the Chairman's award. The recipient was Ama Thiaray. 5. Vice Chair, Roni Davis and Treasurer, Kathy Goelkel presented Chairman Schnake with a plaque showing the chapter's appreciation for her work this year. 6. RVP Brenda Knox swore in the new Chapter Executive Committee; Kathy Goelkel, Chairman, Ron Sathre, Vice-Chairman, Dan Wachtler, Secretary, Lynette Foulger, Treasurer. 7. The door prize drawing was held and the meeting was adjourned.

8 Respectfully Submitted, Dan Wachtler Chapter Secretary, 2000