528
Syllabus
effort to comply with Title VII would be held liable for the discriminatory acts of agents acting in a "managerial capacity." Holding such an employer liable, however, is in some tension with the principle that it is "improper . . . to award punitive damages against one who himself is personally innocent and therefore liable only vicariously," Restatement (Second) of Torts § 909, Comment b. Applying the Restatement of Agency's "scope of employment" rule in this context, moreover, would reduce the incentive for employers to implement antidiscrimination programs and would, in fact, likely exacerbate employers' concerns that 42 U. S. C. § 1981a's "malice" and "reckless indifference" standard penalizes those employers who educate themselves and their employees on Title VII's prohibitions. Dissuading employers from implementing programs or policies to prevent workplace discrimination is directly contrary to Title VII's prophylactic purposes. See, e. g., Burlington Industries, Inc., 524 U. S., at 764. Thus, the Court is compelled to modify the Restatement rules to avoid undermining Title VII's objectives. See, e. g., ibid. The Court therefore agrees that, in the punitive damages context, an employer may not be vicariously liable for the discriminatory employment decisions of managerial agents where these decisions are contrary to the employer's good faith efforts to comply with Title VII. Pp. 539-546.
3. The question whether petitioner can identify facts sufficient to support an inference that the requisite mental state can be imputed to respondent is left for remand. The parties have not yet had an opportunity to marshal the record evidence in support of their views on the application of agency principles in this case, and the en banc Court of Appeals had no reason to resolve the issue because it concluded that petitioner had failed to demonstrate the requisite "egregious" misconduct. P. 546.
139 F. 3d 958, vacated and remanded.
O'Connor, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, Part I of which was unanimous, Part II-A of which was joined by Stevens, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer, JJ., and Part II-B of which was joined by Rehnquist, C. J., and Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas, JJ. Rehnquist, C. J., filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, in which Thomas, J., joined, post, p. 547. Stevens, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, in which Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer, JJ., joined, post, p. 547.
Eric Schnapper argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the briefs was Joseph A. Yablonski.
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