Posted on 12/08/2010 4:21:37 AM PST by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Ha Ha!
LLS
What language was this complaint written in
If they don’t want to speak English, then they sshould go back to the Phillippines.
“Fire their a$$e$ and send them to work in Saudi Arabia... deport them..”
What the H is YOUR problem.
You have a problem with people having conversations in their native language.
They also probably speak English better then you do.
They also probably speak English better than you do.
What about the environment for the Americans in their hospital?
Every day I hear conversations in Spanish around me which are not just hostile but violent and criminal. Oddly the people speaking such things seem unaware that some people who don't look like them just might understand them.
It's disgusting and vile to have to listen to it. They think the language barrier protects them - which is the real reason they want the right to speak in their language when around the suckers, er, Americans.
It used to be considered rude to speak anything other than English in public in the U.S. - home was a different story.
As for the Spanish and Hindi speakers in that hospital - the same rules should apply to them.
But we all know they won't. They're above ordinary laws and especially laws of decent behavior, doncha know?
I think that should be "They, probably, speak English better than you as well." (muttering) %&^$ public schools.
These are the same people who would bring harassment complaints to HR if every time they walked into a coffee area all the American English-speaking employees whispered into one another’s ear behind a concealing hand.
Talking in a language that you know no one around you understands has the same effect. People wonder if they are being talked about.
That said, if you are subject to this, I’ve found that the best remedy is to stop and look at each person talking and concentrate as they speak as if you understand what they are talking about.
I’ve found it makes the foreign-speakers so uncomfortable they hush their conversation.
Now if they weren’t bad-mouthing someone or something (America) in that foreign language, why would they need to hush?
Exactly!!
Let me see if I understand you.
You and a group of Americans are sent to do a project in
Saudi Arabia.
Should you and your friends be prohibited from speaking English among yourselves?
As I read the article, the conversations were not related
to their official duties, or interactions with American staff or patients.
It is also noted, that employees speaking OTHER languages
were not held to the same standard.
The Philippine people are noted for working all over the world, and with a very good work ethic.
“You have a problem with people having conversations in their native language. They also probably speak English better then you do.”
What the H is YOUR problem?
(1) I, for one, have a problem with people having conversations in their native language in the workplace in the U.S. (If just visiting as a tourist — no problem.) I worked with Filipino people in a government office in California, and we Americans agreed that their incessant yip-yapping to each other in Tagalog in front of everyone was annoying and, even worse, RUDE. We complained formally, but it turns out that they have the right not to be offended, but it’s OK for us to be offended.
(2) Good grief, if a NURSE, dealing with life-and-death issues doesn’t/won’t speak intelligible English in America, or doesn’t understand English, you bet I have a problem with that. There comes a point where the health of patients trumps political correctness.
(3) My MIL is 93, is in a California convalescent home following major surgery, and the head nurse is Filipino. The most excruciating time of my day is when she checks in and attempts to provide an update. We cannot understand a word she says, and she can’t understand us. My MIL can’t understand her. We wonder if the doctor(s) can. How is this a good thing? What is the potential for major errors in my MIL’s healthcare?
(4) Is English your second language? If so, then it makes sense that the “then”-vs.-”than” issue might be a challenge. Also, following a question, i.e., “What the H is YOUR problem”, there should be a question mark instead of a period.
“(4) Is English your second language?”
No, it is not, but when I get hot under the collar from
idiotic posts, my dyslexia takes hold, and I loose control.
I will ask again.
If you are sent to work in a foreign country, should you be prohibited from having private chats, in English, with fellow workers?
Philippine children as a general rule are required to learn to speak English in the Philippines. In fact, you are much more likely to run into an English speaker in Manila than in Los Angeles, New York, or even Kansas City.
They are pissed because they are being treated differently, not because they cannot speak English.
It’s lose, not loose.
“If you are sent to work in a foreign country, should you be prohibited from having private chats, in English, with fellow workers?”
If you’re working in another country and indigenous people are present, then you should not “chat” in English in front of them. It would be so very rude! If only English-speaking people are together, then fine — chat up a storm. It’s simple etiquette. The true definition of a “lady” or “gentleman” is to not make others feel uncomfortable. If acting like a boor is what someone’s going for, then anything goes.
I'm all for Englush only but why single out Tagalog? I see no difference between Tagalog, Spanish, and Hindi...all of them should speak English only on the job.
It would be nice if they all wanted to speak English when they are out and about in America (and speak their native languages at home) showing they want to be a partof this country....you know, the one they actually live and work in!
LLS
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