Workplace Language Discrimination

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This is Robert Scirocco bringing you today's Law Bit.

Can an employee be discharged for violating a company rule that requires that only English be spoken? In one case, a medical assistant working at a doctor's office was continuously told not to speak in Spanish to other employees, but only to patients who needed assistance. She was eventually fired, and sued for discrimination on the grounds that the boss had no right to tell her not to speak in her native tongue. The court ruled that an employer's desire to understand what workers are talking about on the job is a legitimate policy and not discrimination. Some members of the legislature are attempting to change this law to make it easier for a worker to speak in her native tongue on the job.

This is Robert Scirocco, Attorney at Law, Budd Lake, New Jersey, bringing you today's Law Bit.

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