Thread: REFUSED TO LEARN ENGLISH/SUING EMPLOYER/PLEASE ACT BY THUR

Reps. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) are planning to offer an amendment to the Commerce, Justice, and Science appropriations bill in the House this week that would block the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from using taxpayer funds to sue business owners who require employees to speak English on the job.

The EEOC has been harassing businesses for years over English in the workplace rules. Earlier this year the EEOC even went so far as to sue the Salvation Army after an Army thrift store in Framingham, Massachusetts fired two Spanish-speaking employees who refused to speak English while working. EEOC lawyers are now seeking damages to compensate the employees for the "emotional pain, suffering" and "inconvenience" they suffered by being asked to learn English and speak it on the job.

The Stearns-Blackburn amendment is virtually identical to an amendment Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) added to the Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bill in the Senate on June 28 by a vote of 15-14. This means that if the Stearns-Blackburn amendment passes, we may have a chance to see relief for business owners with English workplace policies enacted into law this year. A final CJS bill will need to pass a House and Senate conference committee and be signed by the President to become law.

ProEnglish strongly believes that businesses should be encouraged to enact policies that provide incentives for immigrants to learn English and assimilate, not sued by the federal government for requiring employees to communicate in the unifying language of our nation.

Please click here to urge your Congressman to protect the right of all business owners to require English on the job by voting "YES" on the Stearns-Blackburn amendment to the CJS appropriations bill this week (H.R. 3093). Rep. Stearns's staff has told us they anticipate a vote on Thursday.

Thank you,

Ben Piper
Director of Government Relations

P.S. You can cut and paste the address below into your web browser for more background information on the EEOC case against the Salvation Army.

http://www.aim.org/guest_column_print/5410_0_6_0/

P.P.S. You can cut and paste the address below into your web browser to read about a similar EEOC case involving Richard and Shauna Kidman, the owners of a family-owned drive-in restaurant in Page, Arizona. ProEnglish is currently helping to defend the Kidmans against the EEOC in court.

http://www.rdsdrivein.com/

BTTT because this one deserves our attention. We all know what kind of confusions and saftey hazards are placed in the workplace when mulitple languages are used. A unifying language should be enforced in the workplace. Besides, if one owns a business, he/she should have the right to decide what language will be used.

What about the employers that are now requiring Spanish on the job? Can they be sued for requiring Spanish? Probably not. More hypocritical BS.