506
Stevens, J., dissenting
of employment. Our holding that this includes sexual harassment must extend to sexual harassment of any kind that meets the statutory requirements." Id., at 79-80.
This approach applies outside of the discrimination context as well. In H. J. Inc. v. Northwestern Bell Telephone Co., 492 U. S. 229 (1989), we rejected the argument that the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) should be construed to cover only "organized crime" because Congress included findings in the Act's preamble emphasizing only that problem. See Pub. L. 91-452 § 1, 84 Stat. 941. After surveying RICO's legislative history, we concluded that even though "[t]he occasion for Congress' action was the perceived need to combat organized crime, . . . Congress for cogent reasons chose to enact a more general statute, one which, although it had organized crime as its focus, was not limited in application to organized crime." 492 U. S., at 248.3
Under the approach we followed in Oncale and H. J. Inc., visual impairments should be judged by the same standard as hearing impairments or any other medically controllable condition. The nature of the discrimination alleged is of the same character and should be treated accordingly.
Indeed, it seems to me eminently within the purpose and policy of the ADA to require employers who make hiring and firing decisions based on individuals' uncorrected vision to clarify why having, for example, 20/100 uncorrected vision
3 The one notable exception to our use of this method of interpretation occurred in the decision in General Elec. Co. v. Gilbert, 429 U. S. 125 (1976), in which the majority rejected an EEOC guideline and the heavy weight of authority in the federal courts of appeals in order to hold that Title VII did not prohibit discrimination on the basis of pregnancy-related conditions. Given the fact that Congress swiftly "overruled" that decision in the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, 92 Stat. 2076, 42 U. S. C. § 2000e(k), I submit that the views expressed in the dissenting opinions in that case, 429 U. S., at 146 (opinion of Brennan, J.), and id., at 160 (opinion of Stevens, J.), should be followed today.
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