Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/524bv.pdf
Page Number: 856

524US2

Unit: U100

[09-15-00 14:43:09] PAGES PGT: OPIN

Cite as: 524 U. S. 775 (1998)

811

Thomas, J., dissenting

conclusion that merely because the City did not disseminate
its sexual harassment policy, it should be liable as a matter
of law. See ante, at 808–809.1 The City should be allowed
to show either that: (1) there was a reasonably available ave-
nue through which petitioner could have complained to a
City ofﬁcial who supervised both Chief Terry and Lieutenant
Silverman, see Brief for United States and EEOC as Amici
Curiae in Meritor Savings Bank, FSB v. Vinson, O. T. 1985,
No. 84–1979, p. 26,2 or (2) it would not have learned of the
harassment even if the policy had been distributed.3 Peti-
tioner, as the plaintiff, would of course bear the burden of
proving the City’s negligence.

1 The harassment alleged in this case occurred intermittently over a 5-
year period between 1985 and 1990; the District Court’s factual ﬁndings
It was only in March 1990 that
do not indicate when in 1990 it ceased.
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a “policy
statement” “enjoining” employers to establish complaint procedures for
sexual harassment. See ante, at 806. The 1980 Guideline on which the
Court relies—because the EEOC has no substantive rulemaking authority
under Title VII, the Court is inaccurate to refer to it as a “regulatio[n],”
see ante, at 809—was wholly precatory and as such cannot establish negli-
gence per se. See 29 CFR § 1604.11(f) (1997) (“An employer should take
all steps necessary to prevent sexual harassment from occurring . . . ”).
2 The City’s Employment Handbook stated that employees with “com-
plaints or grievances” could speak to the City’s Personnel and Labor Rela-
tions Director about problems at work. See App. 280. The District
Court found that the City’s Personnel Director, Richard Bender, moved
quickly to investigate the harassment charges against Terry and Silver-
man once they were brought to his attention. See App. to Pet. for Cert.
80a.

3 Even after petitioner read the City’s sexual harassment policy in 1990,
Instead, she

see App. 188, she did not ﬁle a charge with City ofﬁcials.
ﬁled suit against the City in 1992.