542
Opinion of the Court
that these principles impose is especially important when interpreting the 1991 Act. In promulgating the Act, Congress conspicuously left intact the "limits of employer liability" established in Meritor. Faragher v. Boca Raton, 524 U. S. 775, 804, n. 4 (1998); see also Burlington Industries, Inc., supra, at 763-764 ("[W]e are bound by our holding in Meritor that agency principles constrain the imposition of vicarious liability in cases of supervisory harassment").
Although jurisdictions disagree over whether and how to limit vicarious liability for punitive damages, see, e. g., 2 J. Ghiardi & J. Kircher, Punitive Damages: Law and Practice § 24.01 (1998) (discussing disagreement); 22 Am. Jur. 2d, Damages § 788 (1988) (same), our interpretation of Title VII is informed by "the general common law of agency, rather than . . . the law of any particular State." Burlington Industries, Inc., supra, at 754 (internal quotation marks omitted). The common law as codified in the Restatement (Second) of Agency (1957), provides a useful starting point for defining this general common law. See Burlington Industries, Inc., supra, at 755 ("[T]he Restatement . . . is a useful beginning point for a discussion of general agency principles"); see also Meritor, supra, at 72. The Restatement of Agency places strict limits on the extent to which an agent's misconduct may be imputed to the principal for purposes of awarding punitive damages:
"Punitive damages can properly be awarded against a master or other principal because of an act by an agent if, but only if:
"(a) the principal authorized the doing and the manner of the act, or
"(b) the agent was unfit and the principal was reckless in employing him, or
"(c) the agent was employed in a managerial capacity and was acting in the scope of employment, or
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