There is no danger, despite the defendant's warnings in this case, that the Supreme Court is creating a "general civility code for the American workplace," Justice Scalia said.

She was not worried, she said, that the ruling would "teach little Johnny a perverse lesson in Federalism" by imposing a national civility code on every school that receives Federal money.

Mr. Felder criticizes the civility code for lawyers recently proposed by Judith S. Kaye, New York State's chief judge.

Yet, does it make sense to have a civility code if there are no penalties for violating it?

The United States Supreme Court stated in Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, that Title VII is "not a general civility code."

Last year Justice Antonin Scalia stated that Title VII does not enact a general civility code for the workplace.

It took issue with the frequently voiced concern that the legal protections against sexual harassment are evolving into an unmanageable "civility code for the American workplace."

These standards for judging hostility are sufficiently demanding to insure that Title VII does not become a "general civility code."

Many local boards have turned to civility codes and behavior guidelines.