WHAT?!
Ping big time
Posted on 11/25/2002 10:01:34 AM PST by madfly
A hulking federal bureaucracy sues a Mom and Pop burger stand, and the
complaint alleges discrimination and is steeped in political correctness.
This sounds like something one would expect to during the Clinton years,
but instead it's happening now.
Richard Kidman and his wife Shauna, co-owners of R.D.'s Drive-In in Page,
Arizona, say they are on the verge of bankruptcy. They can't afford to
defends themselves against a lawsuit filed in federal court in Phoenix by
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The suit is the
first-ever English-only discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of Native
Americans by the federal government. Four former employees of R.D.'s
claimed that the Kidman's English-only rule was discriminatory. Other
Navajo employees still working at R.D.'s applauded it. The story is a
classic tale of an unaccountable bureaucracy versus the little guy.
The Kidmans say that they had no choice two years ago but to prohibit
non-English speaking by their workers after they discovered that some
employees were speaking Navajo to hide gossip and insults (Kidman and his
wife were referred to as various expletives and pejoratives Navajo), as
well as sexually harass some Navajo co-workers.
For more than 20 years, the Kidmans have run the fast-food restaurant,
employing close to a thousand Navajo teens in the process. They claim to
have always had an English-only policy in effect, discussed with potential
workers at hiring time. According to the Kidmans, the issue came to a head
when a young Navajo girl came to them in tears, alleging that two male
Navajo workers were making lewd comments behind the counter. "We were
losing customers and employees offended by the filthy talk behind the
counter, and about to get sued for sexual harassment," Richard Kidman
explains, "So I did something about it."
Enter plaintiff's lawyer Franklin Hoover from Flagstaff: "My clients felt
they have the right to free speech. They have the right to communicate
with each other in the language they grew up with." Of the four women who
filed the June 2001 complaint with the EEOC, one, Roxanne Cahoon, is
Native American but not Navajo and doesn't speak it. Another, Elva Josley
said the newly-posted English-only policy "scared" her, and caused her to
hide in the restaurant's bathroom until her husband picked her up.
The EEOC agreed with Hoover and in its complaint alleges that the American
Indian/Navajo employees were "disparately impacted due to the overbroad
constraints placed on speaking native languages ...without a business
necessity...." Yet if the Kidmans' desire to keep their workplace free of
insults and sexually explicit language does not qualify as a compelling
business necessity, what does? The EEOC website says that it is lawful for
employers to adopt English-only rules if there is a business reason to do
so, if the employees have notice, and if employees are told of
consequences for non-compliance. Although there is a factual debate about
whether the former employees were fired or left R.D.'s voluntarily, but
most conditions seems to have been met here.
The EEOC is no doubt frustrated that English-only movement is growing,
that bilingual education is on the run (Just ask the voters of
Massachusetts who just passed an anti-bilingual referendum.). What the
liberal do-gooders who dominate the EEOC can't get from the voters, they
hope to get from the courts. Just one more reason why President Bush must
move quickly to fill vacancies on the federal courts with judges who don't
believe in legislating from the bench. Suits such as this one should be
tossed out and ideally the EEOC should be ordered to pay the legal fees of
the owners of R.D.'s.
The employer here is a small fish, but the potential implications of this
case are huge. Instead of helping Native Americans or immigrants, a ruling
recognizing a right to speak a language other than English might make
employers less eager to hire them. And employers having a difficult time
maintaining order and morale in a non-English speaking environment could
find themselves sacrificing pleasant working conditions for protection
from a crippling discrimination allegations.
As for the owners of R.D.'s, this holiday season isn't looking too bright.
"Fight it or don't fight it, either way I'm broke," says the beleaguered
Kidman.
Word of the Week
Metonymy, noun. A figure of speech in which the name of one thing is used
for name of something else that is associated with it.
As in--
Wall Street is a metonymy for the stock market.
What the hell is her story, then?
WHAT?!
Ping big time
Monkey see, monkey do.
Now how did I miss this one when I went to school??? No wonder I'm out of the loop...
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