BNUMBER:  B-272984
DATE:  September 26, 1996
TITLE:  Fiscal Year Chargeable for Compensatory Damages Under
Section 102 of the Civil Rights Act of 1991

**********************************************************************

Matter of:Fiscal Year Chargeable for Compensatory Damages Under 
          Section 102 of the Civil Rights Act of 1991

File:     B-272984

Date:September 26, 1996

DIGEST

The Federal Aviation Administration should charge compensatory damages 
under section 102 of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 to the appropriation 
of the fiscal year in which the final determination of the 
government's liability for compensatory damages is made.  The 
government's obligation to pay compensatory damages arose at that 
point.   

DECISION

Pursuant to 31 U.S.C.  sec.  3529, a certifying officer for the Federal 
Aviation Administration (FAA) asks which the fiscal year FAA should 
charge for compensatory damages awarded under section 102 of the Civil 
Rights Act of 1991, 42 U.S.C.  sec.  1981a(a)(1), as part of a lump sum 
compromise settlement of an employee discrimination claim.  For 
reasons stated below, we conclude that FAA should pay the compensatory 
damages from the appropriation available in the fiscal year in which 
the determination to award compensatory damages was made.

Section 102 authorizes the recovery of compensatory damages from 
federal agencies for unlawful discrimination in violation of title VII 
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Compensatory damages are available 
for future pecuniary losses, emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, 
mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and other nonpecuniary 
losses.  42 U.S.C.  sec.  1981a(b)(3).  This authorization is sufficient 
for the FAA to use its appropriations, otherwise available for 
salaries and expenses, to pay compensatory damages in settlement of 
title VII claims.  B-257334, 
June 30, 1995. 

As a general rule, an agency must pay a claim from the appropriation 
available for the fiscal year in which the amount of the claim was 
determined and allowed.  
B-257061, July 19, 1995.  The date that the claim becomes a legal 
liability determines the fiscal year appropriation to be used to pay 
the claim.  27 Comp. Gen. 237, 238 (1947).  This rule is grounded in 
the theory that an administrative award "creates a new right" in the 
successful claimant, giving rise to a new government liability.  
63 Comp. Gen. 308, 310 (1984).  Thus, for example, FAA must use its 
fiscal year 1996 appropriations to pay the awards of compensatory 
damages made in fiscal year 1996.    

/s/Robert Murphy  
for Comptroller General 
of the United States