Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/12pdf/11-556_11o2.pdf
Page Number: 48

14 

VANCE v. BALL STATE UNIV. 

GINSBURG, J., dissenting 

ordinarily  would  not  qualify  as  a  supervisor,  for  her  har-
assing  conduct  is  not  likely  to  be  aided  materially  by  the 
agency relationship.  Id., at 405:7655. 

In my view, the EEOC’s definition, which the Court puts
down as “a study in ambiguity,” ante, at 21, has the ring of 
truth  and,  therefore,  powerfully  persuasive  force.    As  a 
precondition  to  vicarious  employer  liability,  the  EEOC 
explained,  the  harassing  supervisor  must  wield  authority 
of  sufficient  magnitude  to  enable  the  harassment.    In 
other  words,  the  aided-in-accomplishment  standard  re-
quires  “something  more  than  the  employment  relation
itself.”  Ellerth,  524  U. S.,  at  760.    Furthermore,  as  the 
EEOC  perceived,  in  assessing  an  employee’s  qualification
as a supervisor, context is often key.  See infra, at 16–17. 
I would accord the agency’s judgment due respect. 

III 
Exhibiting  remarkable  resistance  to  the  thrust  of  our
prior decisions, workplace realities, and the EEOC’s Guid-
ance, the Court embraces a position that relieves scores of 
employers of responsibility for the behavior of the supervi-
sors  they  employ.  Trumpeting  the  virtues  of  simplicity
and administrability, the Court restricts supervisor status 
to those with power  to take tangible employment actions.
In  so  restricting  the  definition  of  supervisor,  the  Court
once again shuts from sight the “robust protection against 
workplace  discrimination  Congress  intended  Title  VII  to 
secure.”  Ledbetter  v.  Goodyear  Tire  &  Rubber  Co.,  550 
U. S. 618, 660 (2007) (GINSBURG, J., dissenting). 

A 
The Court purports to rely on the Ellerth and Faragher
framework  to  limit  supervisor  status  to  those  capable  of 
taking tangible employment actions.  Ante, at 10, 18.  That 
framework, we are told, presupposes “a sharp line between 
co-workers  and  supervisors.”    Ante,  at  18.  The  definition