West v. Secretary of Veterans Affairs No. 98-238 Full text:http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/98-238.ZS.html

The United States Supreme Court held 5-4 (opinion by Breyer; dissent by Kennedy) that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has the legal authority to require federal agencies to pay compensatory damages when they discriminate in employment in violation of Title VII, 42 USC s 2000 et seq. Although Title VII does not explicitly mention compensatory damages, it states the EEOC has authority to enforce through appropriate remedies, including reinstatement or hiring of employees with or without back pay. The Court emphasized the term appropriate broadened the EEOC's power in the statute and further relied on the term including in determining the EEOC's power was not limited to the remedies specifically mentioned. Additionally, in 1991 Congress passed the Compensatory Damages Act (CDA), 42 USC s 1981, which explicitly gives a petitioner the possibility of compensatory damages when he has been the subject of unlawful intentional discrimination in the workplace. The court found that when read in tandem with the CDA, Title VII gives the EEOC the power to award compensatory damages.

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