[lg policy] Janitorial contractor at LAX settles lawsuit over English-only policy for workers

[Harold Schiffman]

Janitorial contractor at LAX settles lawsuit over English-only policy for
workers
[image: LAX file photo by Scott Varley/SCNG] LAX file photo by Scott
Varley/SCNG

By City News Service

Posted: 04/17/17, 5:12 PM PDT | Updated: 5 hrs ago

A janitorial airline contractor at Los Angeles International Airport and
more than a dozen of its employees have settled a case alleging their
supervisor improperly prohibited them from speaking Spanish during work
hours and breaks.

Attorneys for lead plaintiff Irma Espinoza and the other Gate Gourmet
workers filed a notice of dismissal of the lawsuit last week in Los Angeles
Superior Court and a notice of settlement in March. No terms were divulged.

In May 2015, the janitors sued Gate Gourmet — which provides cabin cleaning
and restocking services to Delta Air Lines at LAX — accusing the company of
failing to prevent the discriminatory policy.

The suit alleged unlawful workplace language policy, harassment, failure to
prevent discrimination and national origin discrimination.

Gate Gourmet spokeswoman Christina Ulosevich said at the time that the
company “does not have an English-only rule” and communicates with
employees “in multiple languages, and certainly in both English and Spanish
in Los Angeles.”

The plaintiffs worked for other companies that contracted with Delta
Airlines to clean the carrier’s cabins until Gate Gourmet began servicing
their planes in May 2014, the suit stated.

>From the inception of Gate Gourmet’s takeover, swing shift manager Silvana
Jahshan instituted an English-only policy, according to the lawsuit.

“Gate Gourmet’s language policy requires plaintiffs and employees who do
not speak English to go without speaking during a work day,” according to
the suit, which alleged Jahshan “intimidated, harassed and threatened”
those plaintiffs who spoke Spanish in violation of the rule.

“Plaintiffs who only speak Spanish are too afraid to speak whatsoever due
to fear of discrimination, harassment, humiliation and discipline,”
according to the lawsuit.

Gate Gourmet did not impose an English-only rule on its morning or night
shift workers even though those employees do the same jobs as their
colleagues on the swing shift, the suit stated.

When the workers raised complaints about their supervisor’s alleged
English-only policy, Gate Gourmet’s management and human resources “did not
take any action whatsoever” to correct the behavior, according to the suit.

http://www.dailybreeze.com/general-news/20170417/janitorial-contractor-at-lax-settles-lawsuit-over-english-only-policy-for-workers


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