Administrative Interpretations of Judicial Decisions: Deference?

There is an interesting exchange of footnotes between the majority and dissenting opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States in Vance v. Ball State University (2013), 570 U.S. _____. At issue was the scope of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Previously, the Court had held that vicarious liability attaches to an employer for workplace harassment committed by a "supervisor". But what did "supervisor" mean?

Deference to Administrators' Interpretations of their Own Regulations

The Supreme Court of the United States recently cast a critical eye over the concept of Auer deference (so called even though the seminal case is actually Bowles v. Seminole Rock & Sand Co.). When administrative bodies promulgate rules, regulations and policies to fill in the gaps in statutory provisions, their promulgations may themselves have gaps and require further interpretation. Auer deference commands that any such further interpretation "becomes of controlling weight unless it is plainly erroneous or inconsistent with the regulation" (see here).