More on English in the workplace, courtesy of Fox News

[Harold Schiffman]

On Fox, GOP strategist Conway asserted that "political correctness"
could lead to "two planes crashing"

On the November 19 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, while
discussing an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) lawsuit
against the Salvation Army for allegedly firing two employees for
speaking Spanish in the workplace, guest host Laura Ingraham asked
Republican strategist Kellyanne Conway: "What stops ... an EEOC
lawsuit against ... public schools who demand that kids learn
English?" Conway responded: "There's nothing at the moment. And in
fact, what starts out as maybe the person doesn't speak English,
getting -- putting mayonnaise instead of mustard as you requested on
your sandwich is one day going to blossom into two air traffic
controllers who don't speak great English because political
correctness has made us appoint them to those positions. They're going
to have two planes crashing in the sky. And that's not a dramatic
example. That's what happens with slippery slopes."

In fact, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended in 1991,
which prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of national
origin -- the provision of law on which the EEOC suit is based --
specifically includes an exception for "those certain instances where
... national origin is a bona fide occupational qualification
reasonably necessary to the normal operation of that particular
business or enterprise." And indeed, the lawsuit specifically alleged
that the ability to speak English "was unrelated to the job they had
been performing since 1999." From the lawsuit:

This is an action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 to
correct unlawful employment practices on the basis of national origin
and to provide appropriate relief to Dolores Escorbor and Maria del
Carmen Perdomo, who were affected by discrimination in the workplace.
As alleged with greater particularity below, The Salvation Army
("Defendant") subjected Escorbor and Perdomo to discrimination on the
basis of their national origin (Hispanic) by requiring them to comply
with Defendant's English-only rule, and terminating them because they
failed to comply with its proficiency requirement, spoke Spanish in
the workplace and were not fluent in speaking or understanding
English.

[...]

9. Escorbor and Perdomo both began work at Defendant's thrift store in
Framingham, Massachusetts in 1999. Spanish is their native language
and they both speak very little English.

10. They both worked commendably and without incident for at least
five years, relying on Spanish as their principal means of workplace
communication in their jobs as clothes sorters.

11. In 2004, Defendant decided to enforce a written English language
policy at the Framingham store, which it had not previously enforced
while Escorbor and Perdomo had been employed. It delayed enforcement
of the policy for at least a year. During this year, employees who
could not speak English adequately were told they needed to learn
English, even though learning English was not part of the written
English language policy and was unrelated to the job they had been
performing since 1999.

12. On or about December 21, 2005, Defendant terminated both Escorbor
and Perdomo for failing to learn English and for speaking Spanish

13. The effect of the practices complained of above has been to
deprive Escorbor and Perdomo of equal employment opportunities and
otherwise adversely affect their status as employees because of their
national origin and to inflict emotional pain, suffering, loss of
enjoyment of life, embarrassment, humiliation, and inconvenience upon
Escorbor and Perdomo.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), an agency of the
United Nations that maintains international standards for aviation
safety, has declared English proficiency essential for pilots and air
traffic controllers and has put in place requirements aimed at
preventing the kind of disaster that Conway described. From the ICAO:

Between 1976 and 2005, more than 1100 passengers and crew lost their
lives in accidents in which investigators determined that air traffic
control (ATCO) communications had played a contributory role (source:
ICAO Journal). In order to improve air transport safety, new ICAO
English language proficiency standards have recently been adopted
(Amendment 164 to Annex 1). The new rules outline the minimum level of
English language proficiency (level 4 -- operational) required by
pilots and air traffic controllers with a compliance date of March
2008. As a result, applicants for, and holders of air traffic
controller and pilot licenses must demonstrate their ability to speak
and understand the language used for radiotelephony communications
according to ICAO's six (6) proficiency criteria: pronunciation,
structure, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension and interactions.

The ICAO standards apply to its 190 member states, including the United States.

>>From the November 19 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

INGRAHAM: Here's a question I have for you. What stops, Kellyanne
Fitzpatrick [Conway], a lawsuit, an EEOC lawsuit against, you know,
public schools?

CONWAY: Nothing.

INGRAHAM: You know, public schools who demand that kids learn English.
I mean, that's discriminatory. Why should they learn English?

CONWAY: There's nothing at the moment. And in fact, what starts out as
maybe the person doesn't speak English, getting -- putting mayonnaise
instead of mustard as you requested on your sandwich is one day going
to blossom into two air traffic controllers who don't speak great
English because political correctness has made us appoint them to
those positions. They're going to have two planes crashing in the sky.
And that's not a dramatic example. That's what happens with slippery
slopes.

By the way, English empowers employees. This is not just to protect
you and me. This is to protect them. Don't you want this person, Tammy
[Fox-Isicoff, panelist and immigration lawyer], to understand
"Building on fire, get out"? It's to protect them as well.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200711210001
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