224
Kennedy, J., dissenting
Justice Kennedy, with whom The Chief Justice, Justice Scalia, and Justice Thomas join, dissenting.
The rules governing this case are clear and well established, or at least had been before the majority's unsettling opinion today. Relief may not be awarded against the United States unless it has waived its sovereign immunity. See Department of Army v. Blue Fox, Inc., 525 U. S. 255 (1999). The waiver must be expressed in unequivocal statutory text and cannot be implied. Id., at 261; Lane v. Peña, 518 U. S. 187, 192 (1996). Even when the United States has waived its immunity, the waiver must be "strictly construed, in terms of its scope, in favor of the sovereign," Blue Fox, supra, at 261; accord, Lane, supra, at 192, for " 'this Court has long decided that limitations and conditions upon which the Government consents to be sued must be strictly observed and exceptions thereto are not to be implied,' " Lehman v. Nakshian, 453 U. S. 156, 161 (1981), quoting Soriano v. United States, 352 U. S. 270, 276 (1957). Not only do these rules reserve authority over the public fisc to the branch of Government with which the Constitution has placed it, they also form an important part of the background of settled legal principles upon which Congress relied in enacting various statutes authorizing suits against the United States, such as the Tucker Act, 28 U. S. C. § 1491; § 10(a) of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U. S. C. § 702; and the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U. S. C. § 2671 et seq. The rules governing waivers of sovereign immunity make clear that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) may not award or authorize compensatory damages against the United States unless it is permitted to do so by a statutory provision which waives the United States' immunity to the awards in clear and unambiguous terms.
Section 717(b) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U. S. C. § 2000e-16(b), which authorizes the EEOC to enforce federal compliance with Title VII "through appropriate remedies, including reinstatement or hiring of employees
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