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Federal Jobs Agency Illegally Sues The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has been told by five different federal courts that it can't prohibit English-on-the-job rules, but the EEOC keeps on suing employers who tell their employees to speak English. The Chicago Tribune reports that, in 1998, the EEOC filed 146 administrative complaints against private employers with English workplace rules. That was an increase of six complaints over the number filed in 1997. The EEOC is focusing its efforts in the Chicago area. One of the most recent court cases was filed against Watlow Electric Manufacturing Co. in Batavia, Illinois. Watlow is a familiar name in many places, since it makes electric grills for McDonald's restaurants, and medical equipment. The EEOC filed suit against the company on behalf of seven workers who allegedly were fired for speaking Spanish on the job. The company is fighting the lawsuit. The EEOC says it intends to stamp out "cultural discrimination." John P. Rowe, director of the EEOC's Chicago office warns, "You can buy a government lawsuit if you don't comply." In earlier cases, federal courts in California, Florida, Georgia and elsewhere upheld employers who required employees to speak English on the job. Most courts found that the EEOC had acted beyond its authority when it issued rules against speaking English. Only one court has ever supported the EEOC rules, and that was a lower federal court in Chicago, explaining why the EEOC is concentrating its employer harassment there. |
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The
ELPAC Report 