Skepticism and Expertise: The Supreme Court and the EEOC

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.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 27

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

Accepted Paper Series