Cite as: 534 U. S. 279 (2002)
Thomas, J., dissenting
C
While the Court explicitly decides today only "whether the fact that Baker has signed a mandatory arbitration agreement limits the remedies available to the EEOC," ibid., its opinion sets this Court on a path that has no logical or principled stopping point. For example, if "[t]he statute clearly makes the EEOC the master of its own case," ante, at 291, and the filing of a charge puts the Commission "in command of the process," ibid., then it is likely after this decision that an employee's decision to enter into a settlement agreement with his employer no longer will preclude the EEOC from obtaining relief for that employee in court.
While the Court suggests that ordinary principles of mootness "may apply to EEOC claims," ante, at 298, this observation, given the reasoning in the Court's opinion, seems largely beside the point. It should go without saying that mootness principles apply to EEOC claims. For instance, if the EEOC settles claims with an employer, the Commission obviously cannot continue to pursue those same claims in court. An employee's settlement agreement with an employer, however, does not "moot" an action brought by the EEOC nor does it preclude the EEOC from seeking broad-based relief. Rather, a settlement may only limit the EEOC's ability to obtain victim-specific relief for the employee signing the settlement agreement. See, e. g., Goodyear Aerospace Corp., 813 F. 2d, at 1541-1544.
The real question addressed by the Court's decision today is whether an employee can enter into an agreement with an employer that limits the relief the EEOC may seek in court on that employee's behalf. And if, in the Court's view, an employee cannot compromise the EEOC's ability to obtain particular remedies by signing an arbitration agreement, then I do not see how an employee may be permitted to do the exact same thing by signing a settlement agreement. See Scherk v. Alberto-Culver Co., 417 U. S. 506, 511 (1974)
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