[lg policy] Is a California Hospital Using an English-Only Policy to Discriminate Against Filipinos?

[Harold Schiffman]

Is a California Hospital Using an English-Only Policy to Discriminate
Against Filipinos?

More than 50 Filipino workers at Delano Regional Medical Center have
joined together to sue the Central California hospital for
discrimination. The staffers allege that an English-only policy
implemented by the medical center in 2006 specifically targeted
Filipino employees. They say they were singled out for punishment when
overheard using Tagalog and related languages, while their
Spanish-speaking and Hindi-speaking colleagues weren’t reprimanded for
communicating in those languages at work.

The lawsuit claims that a hostile working environment was created for
Filipino staffers because hospital management told them that they
could possibly be placed under video surveillance to make sure that
they spoke solely English, including when on breaks. The Filipino
staffers also allege that management encouraged their colleagues to
report anyone they overheard speaking Tagalog.

"I felt like people were always watching us," Elnora Cayme, who worked
for the hospital from 1980 to 2008, told the Associated Press. "Even
when we spoke English ... people would come and approach us and tell
us, 'English only.'" Now, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
is seeking an injunction to protect the workers against future
discrimination, the Associated Press reports. Delano Regional Medical
Center, however, denies that it, in fact, discriminated against the
workers in question. On Dec. 13, the hospital posted a statement on
its website, characterizing the allegations in the lawsuit as
“ludicrous.” The statement goes on to say that the medical center’s
language policy requires “all hospital employees to use only English
within certain designated patient care areas.”

As presented by the hospital, this policy hardly sounds objectionable.
It makes perfect sense to require hospital workers to speak one
language to ensure that patients receive the best care possible. But
the Filipino workers assert that the English-only policy was enforced
even during break times. Employees should be free to communicate in
whatever language they wish to during lunchtime or a 15-minute break.
Say, for example, a staffer on a break receives a phone call from a
family member who does not speak English. Should the employee not be
able to answer the call, or have to leave the hospital premises to do
so? That makes little sense, as no patient would be endangered by a
Filipino worker conversing in Tagalog with a family member on the
phone during a lunch break. It's reminiscent of a prior incident at
another hospital where Filipino nurses reported being fired for
speaking Tagalog at lunch.

What does seem counterproductive to patient safety, though, is a
workplace where medical staffers are urged to tattle on coworkers for
not speaking English. If nurses and other medical personnel don’t
trust one another due to language-based tensions, they may hesitate to
communicate with colleagues they view as “informants.” This discord
may very well place a patient in jeopardy, as it could lead to
stifling the channels of communication that patients depend on to
receive adequate care in a timely manner. On paper, the hospital’s
English-only policy seems fair enough, but its Filipino workers tell a
different story.

http://immigration.change.org/blog/view/is_a_california_hospital_using_an_english-only_policy_to_discriminate_against_filipinos

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