422
Souter, J., dissenting
502, 509 (1962) ("Section 301(a) reflects congressional recognition of the vital importance of assuring the enforceability of [collective-bargaining] agreements"). The point in this case, however, is simply to recognize that if Congress considered that sort of agreement no more than a factor in the analysis, surely no greater weight was meant for a seniority scheme like the one before us, unilaterally imposed by the employer, and, unlike collective-bargaining agreements, not singled out for protection by any positive federal statute.
This legislative history also specifically rules out the majority's reliance on Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison, 432 U. S. 63 (1977), ante, at 403, a case involving a request for a religious accommodation under Title VII that would have broken the seniority rules of a collective-bargaining agreement. We held that such an accommodation would not be "reasonable," and said that our conclusion was "sup-ported" by Title VII's explicit exemption for seniority systems. 432 U. S., at 79-82. The committees of both Houses of Congress dealing with the ADA were aware of this case and expressed a choice against treating it as authority under the ADA, with its lack of any provision for maintaining seniority rules. E. g., H. R. Rep. No. 101-485, pt. 2, at 68 ("The Committee wishes to make it clear that the principles enunciated by the Supreme Court in TWA v. Hardison . . . are not applicable to this legislation"); S. Rep. No. 101-116, at 36 (same).2
2 The House Report singles out Hardison's equation of "undue hardship" and anything more than a "de minimus [sic] cost" as being inapplicable to the ADA. By contrast, Hardison itself addressed seniority systems not only in its analysis of undue hardship, but also in its analysis of reasonable accommodation. 432 U. S., at 81, 84. Nonetheless, Congress's disavowal of Hardison in light of the "crucial role that reasonable accommodation plays in ensuring meaningful employment opportunities for people with disabilities," H. R. Rep. No. 101-485, pt. 2, at 68, renders that case singularly inappropriate to bolster the Court's holding today.
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