Cite as: 527 U. S. 212 (1999)
Syllabus
zation is not limited to the remedies specified. See Phelps Dodge Corp. v. NLRB, 313 U. S. 177, 189. The 1972 Title VII extension's choice of examples is not surprising, for in 1972 (and until the 1991 CDA) Title VII itself authorized only equitable remedies. Words in statutes can enlarge or contract their scope as required by other changes in the law or the world. See, e. g., Browder v. United States, 312 U. S. 335, 339- 340. The meaning of the word "appropriate" permits its scope to expand to include Title VII remedies that were not appropriate before 1991, but in light of legal change wrought by the 1991 CDA are appropriate now. Examining the purposes of the 1972 Title VII extension shows that this is the correct reading. Section 717's general purpose is to remedy discrimination in federal employment by creating a system that requires resort to administrative relief prior to court action to encourage quicker, less formal, and less expensive resolution of disputes. To deny that an EEOC compensatory damages award is, statutorily speaking, "appropriate" would undermine this remedial scheme. This point is reinforced by the CDA's history, which says nothing about limiting the EEOC's ability to use the new damages remedy or in any way suggests that it would be desirable to distinguish the new Title VII remedy from the old ones. Respondent's arguments in favor of depriving the EEOC of the power to award compensatory damages—that the CDA's reference to an "action" refers to a judicial case, not to an administrative proceeding; that an EEOC compensatory damages award would not involve a jury trial, as authorized by the CDA; and that any waiver of the Government's sovereign immunity to permit the EEOC to award compensatory damages must be construed narrowly—are unconvincing. Pp. 217-223.
2. Respondent's claims that he can proceed in District Court on alternative grounds include matters that fall outside the scope of the question presented in the Government's petition for certiorari. The case is remanded so that the Court of Appeals can determine whether these questions have been properly raised and, if so, decide them. P. 223.
137 F. 3d 992, vacated and remanded.
Breyer, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Stevens, O'Connor, Souter, and Ginsburg, JJ., joined. Kennedy, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Rehnquist, C. J., and Scalia and Thomas, JJ., joined, post, p. 224.
Barbara McDowell argued the cause for petitioner. With her on the briefs were Solicitor General Waxman, Acting
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