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Health clinic workers were warned that if they didn’t stop speaking Spanish amongst themselves, they would be fired.
The threat was against seven health care workers in Florida who are from Puerto Rico originally, and choose to speak their native language to each other, as well as Spanish-speaking patients.
The health care clinic has still not commented, but it is very possible that this is a violation of federal guidelines.
The seven women who have come forward work a the Florida Health Department clinic in Haines City, Florida. Haines City is about 50 minutes southwest of Orlando or an hour east of Tampa.
Nurse Mairyli Miranda, one of the women filing a complaint, said that by being told she could not speak her native language, she felt she was being treated “like a criminal”.
She also claims that she and the other women were hired specifically because they were bilingual. Haines City, Florida, has a population breakdown of 45% Hispanic or Latino, 29.2% white, and 24.3% black or African American.
It makes sense that hiring bilingual staff would be beneficial to the health care clinic, which serves the Haines City area.
Miranda says she has felt judged for several years due to the language she speaks, but the harassment has intensified in the past year.
Maria Rivera, a medical clerk, says that they are all very respectful when others who don’t speak Spanish are in the room.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says that you cannot impose English-only rules unless they are “justified” for business reasons, or necessity. And that makes sense in a position that deals with the public or requires a ‘universal’ language.
But these women aren’t trying to file paperwork in Spanish or give patient treatment to those who don’t understand them. They are simply trying to have a conversation over lunch or discuss their lives in a language they are comfortable with.
It is tricky because the EEOC says that a business necessity could include communications with customers or coworkers who only speak English, which may be the loophole the health clinic needs to stay out of trouble.
The health clinic has yet to comment, though that is not surprising. There are several civil rights groups currently looking into the issue and discussing the women’s options.
