I work at a grocery store. Only a couple of us who work there are bilingual. A few months ago, we got a new manager. He makes nasty comments about the Spanish-speaking customers and he has told the staff that he thinks people should be forced to learn English or "go back to where they came from." Last week, we had a store meeting where he told the staff that if he heard any of us speaking Spanish, we would be fired. Can he do this?
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Answer: (1)
Assuming your employer has at least 15 employees, it has to follow Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of national origin, among other things. Courts have held that language-based job requirements might discriminate based on national origin, depending on the circumstances.
Although employers can adopt English-only rules in some situations, these rules must be necessary for business reasons and must not be intentionally discriminatory. By singling out Spanish-speaking employees, your manager may be discriminating based on national origin. Even if your employer had a legitimate reason for an English-only rule, it can't enforce the rule only against certain employees or certain languages.
You should consider a consultation with an employment lawyer to find out what your options are and how best to protect your rights.
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Posted by Staff Writer on 21 Jan 2010