Posted on 11/18/2004 6:45:46 AM PST by united1000
The Denver Post Workers fighting English-only rules While still rare, cases brought against employers who limit language have grown 612% since 1996.
Thursday, November 18, 2004 -
Aurora - Luz Ornelas and Guadelupe Coronado say they were humiliated and degraded when their boss forbade them from speaking their native Spanish while working at a Family Dollar store on East Colfax Avenue.
Not long after, they say, they were fired along with five other Spanish-speaking employees and replaced with workers who spoke only English.
The women recently filed a lawsuit in federal court, saying their civil rights were violated and asking for unspecified damages.
Employers in Colorado and nationwide are increasingly wrestling with language issues as the workforce diversifies.
Claims against workplace English-only rules have increased 612 percent, from 32 cases in 1996 to 228 in 2002, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
But they're still only a fraction of the EEOC's 9,000 annual claims of national-origin discrimination.
Legal experts say the number is low because workers don't know about the law or are worried about losing their jobs.
The dollar-store litigation joins a recent filing against a Northglenn McDonald's restaurant, where the accuser says workers were forced to deposit 25 cents into an "English-only" cup every time they spoke Spanish. McDonald's corporate officials say they have no English- only policies.
Federal rules forbid blanket English-only policies in workplaces. However, EEOC rules allow employers to have language policies if they can prove they're for a "business necessity" or for safety reasons.
In general, the EEOC prosecutes only a handful of English- only cases every year.
David Grinberg, EEOC spokesman, said more English- only claims are being filed as the workplace diversifies.
"We see it as a growing trend," he said. "We're trying to strike a balance between businesses and employees speaking their native language."
Grinberg said the EEOC's mission is to help employers learn the law and not to become the language police.
The most recent case in Colorado occurred last year, when the EEOC settled a $1.5 million case against a Black Hawk casino that required its mostly Hispanic cleaning staff to speak only English.
The agency usually investigates claims and issues a "notice of right to sue," allowing individuals to proceed with litigation on their own.
In those cases, courts have sent mixed messages - sometimes ruling for employees and sometimes for employers.
Nevertheless, Denver attorney Leonard Martinez said he continues to hear from people wanting to sue. Many of those allegations involve English-only policies, he said.
"It's an area of the law that employers don't have a grasp on," said Martinez, who represents Ornelas and Coronado. "It's an issue that needs to be addressed."
Ornelas is a 35-year-old single mother of two who worked for $8 an hour as assistant manager at the Family Dollar store. She is from Mexico City and has limited English skills.
Coronado is a 36-year-old mother of three from El Salvador who worked for $7 an hour as a stocker and occasional checker. She cannot speak English. Both women are in the United States legally.
The women said their bosses knew about their limited English skills when they were hired but later demanded they stop speaking Spanish in the store, which serves a predominantly Latino clientele.
"I don't want them to do to someone else what they did to me and humiliate my people," Coronado said recently through an interpreter.
Family Dollar officials wouldn't comment on the case.
English-only advocates fear increasing litigation is creating a chilling effect for businesses.
"These (cases) are going to continue to grow until we have a commitment to have everyone speak English," said Tim Schultz, spokesman and staff counsel for U.S. English Inc., a Washington, D.C., group dedicated to preserving English in the United States.
"Businesses should have a right to have their employees speak English," he said. "The solution is a bigger-picture solution: Make sure immigrants are learning English."
Karl Krahnke, a linguistics professor at Colorado State University, doubts that will work. Most immigrants over 25 years old probably won't become proficient in a new language, he said. And it shouldn't be required, either, he said.
"It is unethical to require them to give up their first language," he said. "If I speak Spanish and we're close friends and you speak Spanish, to be forced to talk about our families, feelings, illness or whatever in English just because we're out of our house is unfair and unnecessary."
Staff writer Jeremy Meyer can be reached at 303-751-2621 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com .
"Federal employment law should be amended to permit English-only rules. Speaking English is the best way to push assimilation."
Easier would be to declare English the official language or the U.S. Then make it a rule that immigrants must know it or can not get citizenship.
"DO YOU THINK THAT IF YOU WENT TO MEXICO CITY THAT THEY WOULD MAKE SPECIAL DEALS BECAUSE YOU CAN ONLY SPEAK ENGLISH, HELL NO, YOU WOULD STARVE TO DEATH BECAUSE YOU COULDN'T WORK. THIS IS AMERICA WE SPEAK ENGLISH AND ALL WHO COME HERE SHOULD REALIZE THAT AND ADJUST TO IT NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. WE ARE THE ON;Y COUNTRY IN THE WORLD THAT BENDS OVER BACKWARDS TO BE ACCOMODATING."
Well, all caps are a bit much, but I'll respond anyhow.
If you go to Mexico City, you'll be amazed at how many people there do speak English. You won't have to learn Spanish to visit there. In fact, that's the situation all over the world. English is spoken widely in most countries.
The reality is that tourists to the US (and we have lots and lots of them) often have a difficult time because they cannot find anyone who speaks their language. Generally, they have some English, since English is taught in the schools of most developed countries, but when the going gets tough, they find that locating a German, French, Japanese, or Russian speaker is very, very difficult. That's because we don't bother to teach languages any more in our schools.
Legal immigrants assimilate and learn English. It takes a while for that to happen in the first generation. It took a long time before the adult Swedish and Norwegian immigrants in the 19th century could speak English, too. Their children learned faster, but that's how it always goes.
The next generation, however, spoke unaccented English, while maintaining a bit of their old language. The third generation couldn't even speak Swedish or Norwegian.
Thus it is with the legal Spanish-speaking immigrants, too. In the meantime, the first generation adults will always struggle with English. Their kids will learn it well, and the third generation will barely be able to speak Spanish. I saw it in my California home town in the 50's and it's going on the same today.
Again, how many of the customers of that Dollar store do you suppose are Spanish-speakers. I'll bet it's a large percentage. Maybe the clerks' abilities to speak Spanish are a plus for the business. Maybe the boss just doesn't like hearing Spanish.
It's not that simple.
Speaking Spanish as a first language encourages them to remain in distinct, isolated enclaves, and not integrate with the rest of the country. In fact, if you can't speak English, you can't integrate effectively with the rest of the country. You become a distinct cultural subgoups of hispanics living in America rather than becoming Americans.
"If they do not want to learn English why did they bother to come here???? English should be the official language of the U.S. If they do not want to learn then they need to go home to their country.
"
Hmmm....if you're talking about the Hmong immigrants, it wasn't so much that they wanted to come here. They're refugees. Remember that pesky Vietnam war? We used Hmong tribesmen in Laos to do much of our fighting in Laos. They were a minority in that country, but were traditionally hunters and worked with us to fight the Communist forces.
After our withdrawal from Vietnam (that's the kindest words I have for what we did), the Hmong who had fought on our side had to flee or be killed.
We've been bringing them here to the US for quite some time. They are settling in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and near Fresno, CA, for the most part.
They're learning English, but it's tough on the old folks to learn a new language. Here in Minnesota, they're becoming truck farmers, working in retail shops, and doing all sorts of other jobs. The young people are doing fine with their English, but the people who are older...in fact the very people who fought on our side in Laos...are having a harder time with the language. They'll get there.
I have Hmong neighbors, just two doors down from my house in Saint Paul. Grandma and Grandpa don't speak much English...almost none in fact. Mom and Dad speak it pretty well. The kids? They don't even have an accent. That is the way it has always been.
You say they should all just speak English. I'm telling you that it isn't all that easy for older people.
Did they want to settle in the cold climes of Minnesota? I doubt it. Did they want to come to the USA? I'll bet they'd rather be living where they've traditionally lived, at least the oldsters.
As for our Hispanic immigrants, the same thing applies. You may have noted all the young Hispanic men who are serving in Iraq and who are earning their citizenship through their service. Well, their LEGAL parents still have an accent or have trouble with English.
How many languages do you speak?
"I just would not move to another country and not learn their language. The idea would be to make my life easier, not go out of my way to make the country I am living in change to suit me.
"
Sure. I won't even VISIT another country without learning enough of the language there to be polite, ask common questions, count, and order a meal. It doesn't take that long, but then, I seem to have a knack for languages.
That's not always the case with recent immigrants. English is tough to learn. I'll bet these workers can speak it well enough to handle their duties at the cash register, etc. But, when it comes time to discuss the coming marriage of their daughter, or their last trip to the doctor, it's often easier to speak in their native language to others who also speak that language.
This is not about interaction with customers. I'm sure the owner of the store is happy to have his clerks able to speak to his customers. This is about interactions between employees, if it's like most of these cases.
It's a lot different to tell a customer how much their purchase comes to and to wish them a nice day than it is to have a full conversation with a co-worker who happens to share a native language with you. It's only natural to carry out those conversations in the native language.
Yes, immigrants should learn English, and almost all do, at least well enough to get along. But, first-generation immigrants will continue to address people who speak their native language in that language. It's a lot easier and more information gets exchanged.
I'm just not an advocate of insisting that every immigrant be fluent in English the minute they step into the USA. That's impractical, and has never been the rule here.
A Swiss guy, looking for directions, pulls up at a bus stop where two Americans are waiting.
"Entschuldigung, koennen Sie Deutsch sprechen?" he says. The two Americans just stare at him.
"Excusez-moi, parlez vous francais?" The two continue to stare.
"Parlare italiano?" No response.
"Hablan ustedes espanol?" Still nothing.
The Swiss guy drives off, extremely disgusted.
The first American turns to the second and says, "Y'know, maybe we should learn a foreign language...."
"Why?" says the other, "That guy knew four languages, and it didn't do him any good."
No effort to blend in here.
Invasion by any other name is still invasion.
That's funny. Thanks!
You think that is a problem! Try being married to a Vietnamese lady with four sisters, three brothers and a mother in the US, most living within a 2 mile radius.
I am married to a wonderful woman who is fluent in Italian, and so are her Mother and nutty Aunt. I am starting to understand them, and they find this quite bothersome.
Really scary!
Oh, you mean you are starting to understand some of what they say.
Never could I understand woman, and I am thankful for that :)
Thats BS. The questionare for citizenship is given in your native tongue. and you don't even have to request it. Agood friend of mine is Viet Namese and when he and his wife went to finish up the test was in Viet.
My Great grand parents on mom's side came from Norway and I learned to speak it from them, it was never spoken as a first language. the same for my Dad's parents who were born in County Cork Ireland. They never spoke Gaelic even at home between themselves. It was easier for them, as all Irish speak English anyway. Mom's grand father said we are in America we will speak as Americans.
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