Filipinos sue CA hospital over English-only rule

[MikelanNida 28]

heres the link to the story on yahoo...http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101207/ap_on_bi_ge/ca_filipino_nurses_discrimination

ooops! link not working.... cut and paste to read story, sorry about that!

Edited December 8, 2010 by MikelanNida

[Markieboy 104]

heres the link to the story on yahoo...

Fixed it for you!

The situation is pretty whacked. Allowing employees to speak one foreign language over another? It makes sense, though. The San Joaquin valley has a LONG history of discrimination against Filipinos. Carlos Bulosan, a Filipino author, vividly describes his experiences with racism and discrimination against Filipinos.

Thanks for the news article.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Here's the link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101207/ap_on_bi_ge/ca_filipino_nurses_discrimination

I agree that it's not right if they're the only ones targeted but this is the US's fault. If the US would implement english requirements before allowing immigration and visas etc they wouldn't have the issue where so many workers english is so bad they need to speak their home language.

I'm sorry but in something like a hospital where they already speak a foreign "medico" language, it's only natural for people to suspect something is being kept from them if people are walking around speaking a language they can't understand. It creates too much segregation too.

[Atencio 43]

Hospital will lose this case. A number of year back Pomona Valley Hospital tried to prevent Filipino nurses from speaking Tagalog and lost their case.

[MikelanNida 28]

Fixed it for you!

The situation is pretty whacked. Allowing employees to speak one foreign language over another? It makes sense, though. The San Joaquin valley has a LONG history of discrimination against Filipinos. Carlos Bulosan, a Filipino author, vividly describes his experiences with racism and discrimination against Filipinos.

Thanks for the news article.

thanx for the fix !

[Atencio 43]

Oh, I take back my answer

I see the hospital ended up winning the case a couple of years later

per outcome: " courts will uphold such policies if they are based on business necessity, such as public safety, customer service, or minimizing complaints from other employees - the burden is on the employer to show such necessity"

[Obama 2012 1,714]

ugh.... Speak English or GTFO. Seriously......

All employees need to be told this.....

Edited December 8, 2010 by Paul and Vanessa

[thongd4me 69]

I think the hospital has a very good chance of winning,

if the staff concerned were medical professionals and

not housekeeping staff with no impact on patient care.

It's not to denigrate anyone's personal liberty or ethnic

background, it's to maintain a common language for

work-related communications that concern a patient.

If I was a patient and a Romanian doctor and nurse

found it convenient to talk about my case in Romanian

because it was easier for them (not even for the reason

of keeping anything from me) I would feel the need to

strongly object. Naturally I would expect them to tell

me what they said in English and I'm sure they would

have no problem complying. However, that is just an

unnecessary step, avoidable if they had spoken in English

in the first place. They had to qualify for their jobs in English

and take all the required school work and tests in English

so they should have no problem working in English.

On their break time if they were written up for speaking

Romanian, THEN there would be a civil rights issue.

Discrimination & National Origin

Edited December 8, 2010 by thongd4me

[thongd4me 69]

I think the hospital has a very good chance of winning,

if the staff concerned were medical professionals and

not housekeeping staff with no impact on patient care.

It's not to denigrate anyone's personal liberty or ethnic

background, it's to maintain a common language for

work-related communications that concern a patient.

If I was a patient and a Romanian doctor and nurse

found it convenient to talk about my case in Romanian

because it was easier for them (not even for the reason

of keeping anything from me) I would feel the need to

strongly object. Naturally I would expect them to tell

me what they said in English and I'm sure they would

have no problem complying. However, that is just an

unnecessary step, avoidable if they had spoken in English

in the first place. They had to qualify for their jobs in English

and take all the required school work and tests in English

so they should have no problem working in English.

On their break time if they were written up for speaking

Romanian, THEN there would be a civil rights issue.

Discrimination & National Origin

Excerpts:

Title VII permits employers to adopt English-only rules under certain circumstances. As with any other workplace policy, an English-only rule must be adopted for nondiscriminatory reasons. An English-only rule would be unlawful if it were adopted with the intent to discriminate on the basis of national origin. Likewise, a policy that prohibits some but not all of the foreign languages spoken in a workplace, such as a no-Navajo rule, would be unlawful.

Even where an English-only rule has been adopted for nondiscriminatory reasons, the employer's use of the rule should relate to specific circumstances in its workplace.⁽⁴⁸⁾ An English-only rule is justified by "business necessity" if it is needed for an employer to operate safely or efficiently. The following are some situations in which business necessity would justify an English-only rule:

• For communications with customers, coworkers, or supervisors who only speak English
• In emergencies or other situations in which workers must speak a common language to promote safety
• For cooperative work assignments in which the English-only rule is needed to promote efficiency
• To enable a supervisor who only speaks English to monitor the performance of an employee whose job duties require communication with coworkers or customers

The following is an example of a narrowly crafted English-only rule promoting safety in the workplace:

EXAMPLE 20

PERMISSIBLE ENGLISH-ONLY RULE: PROMOTING SAFETY

XYZ Petroleum Corp. operates an oil refinery and has a rule requiring all employees to speak only English during an emergency. The rule also requires that employees speak in English while performing job duties in laboratories and processing areas where there is the danger of fire or explosion. The rule does not apply to casual conversations between employees in the laboratory or processing areas when they are not performing a job duty. The English-only rule does not violate Title VII because it is narrowly tailored to safety requirements.

[_Simpson_ 250]

I see no proof that Filipinos were singled out. Looks like a large number of the nurses are Filipino and so more attention has been given to them but regardless a lawsuit seems stupid IMO.

"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.'"

No wonder employers sometimes hesitate when it comes to employing woman, drama.

[sachinky 464]

What a bunch of whiners. Seriously.

[john & jean 37]

I have an English only rule in my home

they have me outnumbered,