Is it discrimination for a private company to have an 'English Only' policy ?

Question

Deep River (WTNH) _ Several Spanish speaking employees have filed a discrimination lawsuit against their company after an 'English Only' policy was implemented.

A year ago, Andres Moran had a good life and a good job at G&C Industries in Deep River.

"I worked there for three months and it was fine. It was a good working environment. Then after those three months they posted a policy in the lunchroom that said we couldn't speak Spanish," Moran explained.

According to the policy, workers could only speak English during their work hours. Moran and his co-workers, legal immigrants from Honduras and Mexico, were shocked. "The whole Spanish people that worked there, we went and started talking to the managers, and why did they do that? For what reasons? We felt like we were being discriminated. We weren't doing anything bad," Moran said.

According to Moran, the G&C Industries said because they were a private company they could do whatever they want. Moran and four others decided to file a discrimination lawsuit against the company.

"So we're claiming in this case, this English only policy discriminated against my clients on the grounds of national origin," said the employee's attorney, Steve Jobs.

Moran also says the company told the workers that safety was behind the new 'English Only' policy. When he did not comply, Moran says he was laid off.

Moran and the four other employees are seeking $100,000 each, plus attorney fees and damages. http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=7410493
“So we’re claiming in this case, this English only policy discriminated against my clients on the grounds of national origin,” said the employee’s attorney, Steve Jobs.

When they come to this country their allegiance is supposed to be for this country which is an English speaking one.
National origin???? What the....(censors myself)
Go back to your country of origin where you will be free to speak the national language. Would like to see if in their country of origin they would be able to speak English or would be required to speak the national origin’s native language.
I am sick of this and the good thing is they will garner little or no sympathy.

Answer 1

Before I woke up and realized how the illegals were affecting this country, I worked at a place called Valley Pride Pack in Norwalk WI.

We fed the bones from slaughtered cattle into a bone crusher to extract the meat for the Fine Ground hamburger that goes to Mc Donalds.

When the chute got overloaded one day I shut down the belt and told my workers to not restart it while I was inside the chute. We had no real lock-out so I had one of the Mexicans stand by the on/off button for my safety.

While I was clearing the blockage they turned the belt back on and I was nearly crushed and thrown onto the track below feeding the crusher.

After my screams were heard and it was shut off by another American employee, I came out to find the Mexicans laughing. When questioned they stated that they didn't understand what I had wanted done even though I had made it clear, and they had never turned it on when one of them was in the chute.

Yes, I would say that speaking English in an American company is necessary for safety and should be expected.

It has nothing to do with discrimination, they are in the United States of America, they should talk our language if they are legal.

If they are not legal they should be gotten rid of. That is what they want to do to us, and they will do it while laughing.

Answer 2

First thing addressing the answer given to the question by Dangerous Dad. People like you are why we are in the predicament we are, this is as it always has been an English speaking country. There have always been other languages spoken in this country without any problems in the business world until the last 10 years or so.You and the like when unable to maintain the law of the land want to say it's racist, and discrimination. It's a private company which means if there isn't any harm to the employees, they can do anything they want, if the employees now can't comply with the rules, the employer should terminate them. What would they want to do if the company being private went out of business because of this problem. They would all be out of work, looking for a job in the English speaking work world again, unless they could start their own business then they could talk whatever language they wanted.
When it comes to discrimination, and racist, that puts every person that refuses to speak the English language in the work place in that category. We have over the last 10 years allowed more people to conduct business where it has reach the point that now we can't understand them nor can they understand us, then it becomes a problem for us because they can't speak their own native language. What this company by it's English Only policy has done is something that every business in this country should do without any recourse or pressure from non-speaking people. This is America where English is the language, people want to speak their native language do so in there homes, or other areas where American people that don't understand or aren't interested have to be concerned.
The lawyer will make some money from this case but he probably speaks the same language, so isn't doing this country any favors by his actions.

Answer 3

I don't know Connecticut laws or of any federal law that guides this. However, there are probably some clear-cut guidelines that will be investigated.

1. Are they targeting a specific race, creed, or nationality and doing a wholesale dump of these people?

2. Was it a job requirement that they spoke fluent English? Were they unable to comply with that job requirement?

3. If it was a job requirement that they spoke fluent English and they were able to comply with the job requirement did they either break that requirement or were they speaking another language during break times or lunch times only?

Myself...I don't like to deal with someone in this country doing business in this country who cannot communicate well with me. I don't care what the first language was you learned, but we need to communicate clearly if you're going to get my buck. I think the company that hired these folks is just as responsible for this situation as the immigrants were. If they did not clearly state that having the ability to speak fluent English was a job requirement because they were dealing with customers, vendors, and employees who spoke English, then it looks worrisome to me.

Answer 4

The protected classes are age, sex, race, national origin, disability, creed or religion - not language.

Although the EEOC has said that employers cannot require English only for the entire workday, they have not enforced it while working (ie: workers can't be prohibited from using another language during lunch).

As safety is behind this, I think the company will prevail.

Answer 5

Theodore Roosevelt on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN

"In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

Answer 6

It is my understanding that the protected category "national origin" includes language. Courts have already ruled that a company can only require an employee to learn English only to the degree that is actually required for each employee's successful performance of his/her particular job. Therefore, G&C Industries in Deep River has indeed discriminated against these individuals.

Answer 7

Language is considered the most significant socializing agent in the world. If a country speaks the same language, it is one country, and while there are exceptions to that rule, it is a pretty good working rule. You cannot .. not.. speak the language and expect to do as well as those who do speak the language.

I would think that in a public place at work, as well as the work site itself, the workers would speak English as a matter of productivity and respect to all.

Answer 8

The only problem is that we do not have a national language, because the weak kneed-idiots in Washington won't take a stand and vote on it.

We do have 28 states who have adapted English as their official language and I salute them.

As far as a privately owned business wanting English only spoken, well send me an application.

Answer 9

It's time to reduce immigration and ban all illegal immigration when we reach the stage where some people start to be
offended when we simply want to impose our language

Red alert to me

Answer 10

What is your question?It should be automatic that if you live in the USA then the language is English.If you don't want to speak English then move your *** to another country.Sorry if this offends you but I am an American,,,USA,,,and we speak English whether you like it or not.