EEOC Reaches Historic Settlement in an English-Only Lawsuit

IMMIGRANTS & EMPLOYMENT

Immigrants' Employment Rights and Remedies

EEOC REACHES HISTORIC SETTLEMENT IN AN ENGLISH-ONLY LAWSUIT
Immigrants' Rights Update, Vol. 15, No. 3, May 10, 2001

A $2.44 million settlement for 18 Latino workers who had been employed as housekeepers by the University of Incarnate Word (UIW) was announced today by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This is the largest known monetary settlement in an "English-only" lawsuit.

The EEOC filed the class action lawsuit on Sept. 30, 1999, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas alleging that UIW, a private university in San Antonio, Texas, engaged in national origin discrimination when it implemented an unlawful English-only rule and harassed its Latino workers for over 10 years in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The workers were prohibited from speaking Spanish and were required to speak English at all times, including during lunch and breaks. Many of the workers complained that they had difficulty complying with the English-only rule because they were monolingual Spanish-speakers or spoke English with difficulty, while the bilingual employees complained that they unconsciously switched to talking Spanish when speaking to their Spanish-speaking peers. Those employees who were unable to comply with the English-only policy were subjected to repeated verbal and physical abuse, including ethnic slurs.

The terms of the settlement include a payment of $1 million in damages to be distributed among the 18 Latino former employees, as well as $1.44 million in tuition waivers that can be used by the 18 class members or one of their close relatives. The tuition waivers will pay for eight full-time semesters at UIW. In addition, UIW agreed to adopt a comprehensive antidiscrimination policy and complaint procedure in Spanish and English, and to conduct ongoing training for its managers and supervisors on national origin discrimination and other unlawful employment practices. Finally, the consent decree approved by the court includes a three-year injunction prohibiting UIW from implementing another English-only rule and from discriminating against its employees on the basis of their national origin.