Cite as: 537 U. S. 280 (2003)
Opinion of the Court
Where Congress, in other civil rights statutes, has not expressed a contrary intent, the Court has drawn the inference that it intended ordinary rules to apply. See, e. g., Burlington Industries, Inc., supra, at 754-755 (deciding an employ-er's vicarious liability under Title VII based on traditional agency principles); Meritor Savings Bank, FSB v. Vinson, 477 U. S. 57, 72 (1986) ("Congress wanted courts to look to agency principles for guidance").
This Court has applied unusually strict rules only where Congress has specified that such was its intent. See, e. g., United States v. Dotterweich, 320 U. S. 277, 280-281 (1943) (Congress intended that a corporate officer or employee "standing in responsible relation" could be held liable in that capacity for a corporation's violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938, 52 Stat. 1040, 21 U. S. C. §§ 301-392); United States v. Park, 421 U. S. 658, 673 (1975) (discussing, with respect to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, congressional intent to impose a duty on "responsible corporate agents"); United States v. Wise, 370 U. S. 405, 411-414 (1962) (discussing 38 Stat. 736, currently 15 U. S. C. § 24, which provides: "[W]henever a corporation shall violate any of the . . . antitrust laws, such violation shall be deemed to be also that of the individual directors, officers, or agents of such corporation who shall have authorized, ordered, or done any of the acts constituting in whole or in part such violation"); see also 46 U. S. C. § 12507(d) ("If a person, not an individual, is involved in a violation [relating to a vessel identification system], the president or chief executive of the person also is subject to any penalty provided under this section").
For another thing, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the federal agency primarily charged with the implementation and administration of the statute, 42 U. S. C. § 3608, has specified that ordinary vicarious liability rules apply in this area. And we ordinarily defer to an administering agency's reasonable interpretation of a stat-
287
Page: Index Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007