Posted on 06/20/2009 3:45:24 PM PDT by SandRat
PHOENIX — State senators took the first steps Friday to protect businesses from winding up in legal trouble for failing to provide translators for customers who don't speak English.
Existing law prohibits discrimination in places of "public accommodation against anyone because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin or ancestry." That category includes restaurants, hotels, theaters and any place that offers services or goods to the general public.
SB 1199, as unanimously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, would spell out that the law doesn't require any business owner to provide a "trained and competent bilingual person" to assist customers.
The legislation is the result of a problem incurred by a Glendale optometrist.
John Schrolucke told lawmakers that a woman speaking only Spanish came into his office. Schrolucke said the woman did bring her 12-year-old child with her. But he said allowing the child to interpret for the parent would have gotten him into legal trouble.
Potentially more significant, Schrolucke said he faced a potential malpractice lawsuit if the child did not properly translate some of the more technical explanations being provided.
So he turned the woman away, telling her through her child to come back with someone at least 18 years old. Schrolucke said that when people cannot come in with an adult interpreter, he routinely gives them the business cards of two other optometrists who speak Spanish.
Afterward, he said, the woman filed a discrimination complaint with the state Attorney General's Office. It was only after an investigation and some time and effort on his part that the complaint was dismissed.
Sen. John Huppenthal, R-Chandler, who crafted SB 1199, said businesses should not have to fear they will incur the time and expense of an investigation or even a possible lawsuit because they haven't hired qualified people to interpret.
"He (Schrolucke) has been horribly maligned by the system, drug through the mud, his time consumed, his money consumed, his reputation put at risk," Huppenthal said.
Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, called it "outrageous" that anyone would demand services from a private business in a language other than English.
The measure now goes to the full Senate.
I used to work for a non-profit company that used interpreters for non-English speaking clients and the deaf. More often than not the clients requiring the interpreter wouldn't bother to show up (or bother to call to cancel the appointment), and the company was obligated to pay for the services of the interpreter anyway (as they had shown up). For non-profits running on slim budgets, this type of requirement is financially devastating.
Somewhere, Saul Alinsky is smiling.
The woman should have been required to reimburse his legal expenses. It was a frivolous lawsuit. He made it clear that he didn't speak her language. Does the man have to endure an onslaught of 140 more people who speak languages that he doesn't understand and claim discrimination?
Something for us recent immigrants to do: go to your local Democratic Congressman/Senator’s office, and (since this is “public accommodation”) demand translating services in your native language. Be it Mandarin, Hindi, Romanian, Polish, German, Lithuanian, etc.
Mark
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.