Filipinos sue CA hospital over English-only rule

AP-Yahoo! ^ | December 7, 2010 | AMY TAXIN

[greatdefender]

LOS ANGELES – Dozens of Filipino hospital workers in California sued their employer Tuesday alleging they were the sole ethnic group targeted by a rule requiring them to speak only English.

The group of 52 nurses and medical staff filed a complaint accusing Delano Regional Medical Center of banning them from speaking Tagalog and other Filipino languages while letting other workers speak Spanish and Hindi.

The plaintiffs are seeking to join an August complaint filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Kern County federal court over the hospital's enforcement of a rule requiring workers to speak English.

Filipino workers said they were called to a special meeting in August 2006 where they were warned not to speak Tagalog and told surveillance cameras would be installed, if necessary, to monitor them. Since then, workers said they were told on a daily basis by fellow staffers to speak only English, even on breaks.

"I felt like people were always watching us," said tearful 56-year-old Elnora Cayme, who worked for the hospital from 1980 to 2008. "Even when we spoke English ... people would come and approach us and tell us, 'English only.'"

A message was left at the hospital seeking comment.

In its lawsuit, the EEOC has accused the hospital in California's San Joaquin Valley of creating a hostile working environment for Filipinos by singling them out for reprimands and for encouraging other staff to report them. The agency is seeking an injunction to protect the workers against future discrimination.

[PIF]

The key word in Alex’s question is “sent” — AFAIK, the workers in question were not “sent” (by someone/entiry) but hired by the hospital in question...

Perhaps the fault lies in the hospital’s hiring practices or the State’s hiring policy...

And yes, it is very rude, and, as you point out, possibily life threatening in some situations.

As far as “private converstions” in the work place goes - there should be none. {Private converstions should be what happens on break/lunch/or after work).

[antiRepublicrat]

banning them from speaking Tagalog and other Filipino languages while letting other workers speak Spanish and Hindi.

I think that's the sticking point. I'm all for English-only, but it has to be blanket, no discrimination against a specific grouop.

[max americana]

Correct. There has to be a universal language or we will fall on the wayside as a result of this ‘multicultural’ nonsense.

I’m in L.A. and rode for the first time a DASH bus which costs 25 cents. In it...ALL the signs were in Spanish but the passengers were mostly European seniors.

Now, where is the MULTI-cultural aspect of it when ONE language which is NOT English was clearly shown?

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

If I speak Arabic, YES.

If I went to India and worked with another American, I sure as hell would insist that we speak Hindi or whatever was the dominant language if I could speak it.

Not just yeah. Hell yeah. I would never risk insulting my hosts by whispering behind a concealing hand in their midst.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

Also, I never said “prohibited.”

I’m talking about what used to be common courtesy. It also used to be the norm that immigrants learned our language when they came here.

As far as “they weren’t talking about...” well who the hell knows the truth about that? That’s the point.