Thread: Torrance nursing home sued over language bias

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Posted on Fri, Sep. 16, 2005



Torrance nursing home sued over language bias


Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - A nursing home was sued Friday for allegedly discriminating against its Hispanic workers by prohibiting them from speaking Spanish on the job.

The lawsuit against Torrance-based Royalwood Care Center alleges that its English-only language rule violated federal law.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charged that a worker, who spoke only Spanish, was fired for speaking his native tongue on the job. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, seeks reinstatement and backpay for the worker.

The agency alleged that other Hispanic workers also were reprimanded, but that the nursing home allowed non-Hispanic workers to speak their own language.

"We concluded that Royalwood overreached with its English-only policy and what's more, enforced it only against Hispanic employees," EEOC district director Olophius Perry said in a statement.

Royalwood did not immediately comment on the lawsuit.

http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/1721986.html

Saturday, September 17, 2005
English-only edict at Torrance care home draws lawsuit

Federal civil rights case contends the Royalwood Care Center in Torrance violated the rights of a Spanish-speaking janitor. The center allegedly allowed employees to speak other foreign languages on the job.
By Denise Nix
Daily Breeze

A Torrance nursing home was sued Friday by the federal government, which claims the facility discriminates against Hispanic employees with an English-language-only rule for its workers.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit in Los Angeles federal court against Royalwood Care Center, alleging the facility violated the civil rights of a Hispanic worker who was fired for speaking Spanish on the job, and others who received discipline for doing the same.



"While there may be situations where an employer can legitimately maintain and enforce English-only policies in the workplace without running afoul of the laws against discrimination, we believe this is not one of them," Olophius Perry, director of the EEOC's Los Angeles office, said in a news release announcing the lawsuit.

"We concluded that Royalwood overreached with its English-only policy and, what's more, enforced it only against Hispanic employees," Perry added.

Royalwood's phone rang unanswered Friday afternoon and a message left with Skilled Healthcare, its Orange County-based parent company, was not returned.

The EEOC alleges Royalwood's language policy was not justified by business necessity and was applied only to Spanish-speakers, while other non-Hispanic employees were allowed to speak languages other than English without being disciplined.

Jose Zazueta filed a complaint with the EEOC after he was fired for speaking Spanish while working at Royalwood. The EEOC says other Hispanic workers were also disciplined for speaking Spanish on the job.

Zazueta, 66, of Los Angeles worked as a janitor for Royalwood from February 2001 until his termination in April 2002, according to EEOC attorney Sue Noh.

Noh said Royalwood's English-only policy is based on state Department of Health Services guidelines that requires health-care providers to treat their patients in a language they understand.

However, the question in Zazueta's case is whether or not he was providing patient care in his duties as a janitor, Noh said.

Zazueta was fired when he could not promise he would not speak his native language within earshot of the patients, Noh said, calling that a difficult commitment for someone whose first instinct might be to blurt something in his own language in an urgent situation.

Noh said she has spoken to Zazueta only through a Spanish-language interpreter and is fairly certain he does not speak English.

The lawsuit seeks reinstatement and back pay for Zazueta, as well as compensatory and punitive damages for him and other similarly situated workers.

English-only laws are an ongoing subject of debate, and the issue is frequently the subject of civil rights lawsuits nationwide.

In Alabama, a woman sued the state over her right to take a driver's license exam in Spanish, and in Alaska, an American Indian tribe joined with the ACLU to sue the state over a law requiring government workers to speak English only.

In employment cases, there must be some legitimate reason the employer is imposing the policy, said Pasadena employment law attorney Jack Schaedel, who is not involved with the Royalwood case.

"It can't be things like morale or just because other employees don't like it -- that violates the spirit of the Civil Rights Act," Schaedel said.

"Restrictions are most likely to pass muster if they are limiting employees when they are in the presence of customers," Schaedel said. "Least likely to pass muster are if they try to regulate an employee on break or in a back area speaking to each other when nobody else is around."

In March, the EEOC sued Royalwood for firing a pregnant worker five days before the San Pedro resident gave birth, claiming the nursing home on Maple Avenue violated her civil rights.

In August, a federal judge ruled that Royalwood would not have to pay the woman any monetary damages because it had previously filed for bankruptcy protection; however, the suit is pending otherwise.