Skepticism and Expertise: The Supreme Court and the Eeoc

27 Pages Posted: 27 Mar 2006

See all articles by Melissa Hart

Melissa Hart

University of Colorado Law School

Abstract

The Supreme Court regularly denies deference to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's interpretations of the federal antidiscrimination laws which that agency is charged with enforcing and interpreting. The Court's lack of deference for EEOC interpretation is in part a function of the analytical framework that the Court has created for assessing the deference due to different types of administrative interpretation. But this essay argues that the Court's lack of deference cannot be entirely explained with reference to these neutral analytical criteria. The Court's attitude toward the EEOC may also be explained as a consequence both of judicial reluctance to view discrimination as a subject of agency expertise and of skepticism about the political agenda of an agency empowered to enforce antidiscrimination requirements.

Keywords: civil rights, administrative law, employment practice, courts

Suggested Citation

Hart, Melissa, Skepticism and Expertise: The Supreme Court and the Eeoc. Fordham Law Review, Vol. 74, p. 1937, 2006, U of Colorado Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 06-04, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=893196

Melissa Hart (Contact Author)

University of Colorado Law School ( email )

401 UCB
Boulder, CO 80309
United States
303-735-6344 (Phone)

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
227
Abstract Views
1,777
Rank
244,403
PlumX Metrics