Hispanic Group Claims Atlanta School’s Language Policy Discriminatory
AP, April 12, 2006
Atlanta — A Hispanic advocacy group is claiming that Atlanta’s Oglethorpe University discriminated against Latino workers by requiring that employees speak only English to supervisors and colleagues.
The alleged policy targeted three Spanish-speaking housekeepers, according to a motion filed Wednesday by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
The organization’s motion seeks to join a lawsuit lodged against the school last month by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. It accuses the school of requiring the housekeepers to learn English in 60 days or risk termination and to speak and understand some English to keep their positions.
The private school in Atlanta, which has roughly a thousand students, argues it never had such a requirement.
