West v. Gibson, 527 U.S. 212, 8 (1999)

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Cite as: 527 U. S. 212 (1999)

Opinion of the Court

court action, thereby encouraging quicker, less formal, and less expensive resolution of disputes within the Federal Government and outside of court. See 42 U. S. C. § 2000e-16(c) (court action permitted only where complainant disagrees with final agency disposition or, if complainant pursued discretionary appeal to EEOC, with EEOC disposition; or if either agency or EEOC disposition is delayed); Brown v. GSA, 425 U. S. 820, 833 (1976) (discussing § 717's "rigorous administrative exhaustion requirements"); see also 29 CFR § 1614.105(a) (1998) (requiring complainant initially to notify agency and make effort to resolve matter informally); § 1614.106(d)(2) (requiring agency investigation prior to EEOC consideration).

To deny that an EEOC compensatory damages award is, statutorily speaking, "appropriate" would undermine this remedial scheme. It would force into court matters that the EEOC might otherwise have resolved. And by preventing earlier resolution of a dispute, it would increase the burdens of both time and expense that accompany efforts to resolve hundreds, if not thousands, of such disputes each year. See Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Federal Sector Report on EEO Complaints Processing and Appeals by Federal Agencies for Fiscal Year 1997, pp. 19, 61 (1998) (28,947 Federal Government employment discrimination claims filed in 1997; 7,112 claims appealed to EEOC); Reply Brief for Petitioner 12-13, n. 9 (estimating "hundreds" of cases each year that involve claims for compensatory damages).

The history of the CDA reinforces this point. The CDA's sponsors and supporters spoke frequently of the need to create a new remedy in order, for example, to "help make victims whole." H. R. Rep. No. 102-40, pt. 1, pp. 64-65 (1991); see also Civil Rights Act of 1991, § 2, 105 Stat. 1071, 42 U. S. C. § 1981 note (congressional finding that "additional remedies under Federal law are needed to deter . . . intentional discrimination in the workplace"); id., § 3 (one purpose

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