Spanish-Speaking Employees Are Suing Their Employer For Unusual ‘Discrimination’

Spanish speaking employees in Costa Mesa, California, are suing their employer for an unusual form of what they believe to be discrimination.

See if you agree.

Six individuals, who speak Spanish and work at the Fairview Developmental Center, complain that their employer’s “English-only” policy violates their rights under the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing Act.

However, there is one exception to this rule that may keep the Spanish speaking employees from having a solid case. The act says an “employer can’t prohibit the use of any language in the workplace unless he can show it’s justified by business necessity,” the Orange County Register reports.

The lawsuit attests that the Fairview Developmental Center includes the following policy.

“English is considered to be the official language of the state of California and should be spoken while doing the work of the state unless otherwise indicated by the needs of clients or their families.”

The facility serves around 275 residents and is run by the state of California.

Employees are said to be one custodian and five food service workers, none of whom interact with patients as part of their required duties, the news site notes.

“If two 50-year-old ladies washing dishes want to have a conversation in Spanish, how is there an overriding business necessity?” asked the representing attorney, Joseph Scully.

The names of the Spanish-speaking employees, who brought the suit, are Rosaura Herrera, Lillian Torres, Delfino Herrera, Jorge Torres, Ana Alicia, and Alfonso Ramirez, and they’ve been employed by the facility for several years.

They feel they have been “bullied” and “intimidated,” the suit states, because supervisors will frequently “eavesdrop” to make sure they are not speaking Spanish in conversations with each other and hand out “disciplinary notes” if they are found to be in violation of the policy.

There were not many sympathetic voices on the Opposing Views Facebook among those discussing the issue.

“If they are going to live and work in the United States they should have to learn and speak English,” said Richard Crooks, adding that “we are an English Speaking Country and if they don’t like it go back to Mexico. It this was the other way around do you think the Mexican Government would protect us if we didn’t speak Spanish? H*** NO.”

Many agreed.

But what do you think, readers? Are these Spanish speaking employees out of line, or are they being discriminated against? Sound off in the comments section.

[Image via ShutterStock]