Congress in Tiff Over English-Only Rules
By ANDREW TAYLOR
Associated Press
November 16, 2007
Page 2 of 2
In most instances, the EEOC lawsuits are settled out of court, with employers changing their policies and paying relatively modest damages.
''If and when we file an English-only lawsuit -- which is rare to begin with -- the usual result is a voluntary settlement,'' said EEOC spokesman David Grinberg. ''If you look at the big picture, it's a very small part of what we do here.''
In April, however, a geriatric care center in New York City agreed to pay $900,000 to settle an EEOC lawsuit based on an English-only policy that barred Haitian and Jamaican employees from speaking in Creole but allowed Hispanic and other employees to speak Spanish or other languages. The policy was part of a broader discrimination based on their race and national origin.
Alexander successfully attached the English-in-the-workplace provision to the EEOC budget bill on an Appropriations Committee vote in June, with the support of three Democrats -- including the panel's chairman, Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia.
In the House, Gonzalez and other Hispanic members narrowly won a vote in July to reject a move to prevent the EEOC from pursuing English-only discrimination cases. But the result was reversed last week on a nonbinding 218-186 vote urging House negotiators on the underlying budget bill to accept the Alexander's language.
Outraged Hispanics said Democratic leaders didn't adequately get members on board for the vote and they have won a promise from Speaker Nancy Pelosi that Alexander's English-only provision will be killed. House-Senate negotiations on the underlying bill have been put off indefinitely.
Alexander says he offered watered-down language to require the agency to give notification in advance when filing cases, but that it's been rejected by House Democrats.
He insists he's not anti-immigrant, but that speaking English is crucial for immigrants to assimilate into society.
''One way to make sure that we have a ... a little more unity that is our country's greatest accomplishment is to make certain that we value our common language,'' Alexander said Thursday. ''And that we not devalue it by allowing a federal agency to say that it is a violation of federal law for an employer in America to require an employee to speak English on the job.''
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