Why can a business owner not say English only to his employees.?
If they want to cry about it being unfair, should they just not hire anyone who would speak another language?
Why are these groups dictating what Americans are allowed to do in their business’s?
Your opinion?
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English-only at Conn. bookstore sparks controversy
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By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN
Fri Jan 22, 2:51 pm ET
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – A popular bookstore and cafe near Yale University wants its many Hispanic employees to speak only English around customers, sparking controversy in immigrant-friendly New Haven, where students fight for immigrant rights.
Atticus Bookstore and Cafe recently issued a policy stating that English should be the only language spoken on the floor and behind the counter. “Spanish is allowed in the prep area, the dishwasher area and the lower level. Let’s make our customers feel welcome and comfortable,” the policy states, according to New Haven Workers Association, a group of activists who said employees gave them a copy.
“I’m really appalled,” said Tim Stewart-Winter, a Yale lecturer. “As a New Haven resident and member of the Yale community, I think diversity is a strength of this country.”
Stewart-Winter said he likes to take out-of-town guests to Atticus, but may not now because of the policy.
Bridget Pierpont, a 40-year-old New Haven resident, said she was texting a friend as she passed Atticus on Thursday suggesting they no longer go to the bookstore because of the language policy.
“Frankly, I think that’s part of the charm of this place,” Pierpont said. “I think they should absolutely be able to speak Spanish here.”
Atticus owner Charles Negaro issued a statement saying his business appreciates and accepts all languages and offers free English language classes to employees.
“We encourage the use of English because it’s an appropriate way to be most helpful to our customers,” Negaro said. “To continue to provide the best service possible, we try to help those employees who speak English as a second language by helping them improve their use of English.”
Negaro said news reports about the policy have been inaccurate and “if these news reports have offended anyone, I am sorry.”
“Atticus managers and staff are reviewing our policy of appropriate language usage to determine how we can avoid misinterpretations of this kind in the future,” the statement said.
Negaro declined to comment beyond the statement.
Most of those interviewed outside the bookstore disagreed with the policy. But Peter Indorf, who owns a jewelry store nearby, defended Negaro.
“He’s a solid member of the community,” Indorf said. “He’s entitled to do what he wants.”
Deborah Malatesta, a member of the New Haven Workers Association, said the group plans to demonstrate Saturday in front of the bookstore. She said the policy is discriminatory.
The move comes in a city that was the first in the nation to offer identification cards to illegal immigrants. Yale Law School has been active fighting for immigrant rights, filing lawsuits over immigration raids conducted by federal authorities.
Employers are allowed to enact an English-only policy if it is needed to promote the safe or efficient operation of their business, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Examples include communications with customers, co-workers or supervisors who only speak English, emergency situations in which workers must speak a common language to promote safety and cooperative work assignments in which a common language is needed to promote efficiency.
The EEOC has successfully challenged some policies for going too far.
A group of nursing homes in California and Texas agreed last year to pay up to $450,000 to employees who said they faced discrimination for speaking Spanish at work. In 2003, the Colorado Central Station casino agreed to pay more than $1.5 million to 36 former housekeepers who say they were ordered not to speak Spanish on the job.
Courts have been divided on the issue. A court in New York in 2005 ruled against the EEOC and upheld a policy by a cosmetic store in Rockefeller Center that required employees to speak English when on the sales floor and customers are present, even if they are not communicating with customers.
Blanket policies often run into trouble, but more narrowly focused approaches are more likely to be upheld, said Peggy Mastroianni, associate legal counsel at EEOC.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100122/ap_on_re_us/us_bookstore_english_only
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Spock (rhp) 
it seems stupid. every potential customer likes being sold in her or his own language.
Yes, they should. I don’t speak another language fluently and would not be able to communicate with an employee that could not speak English. Multi-lingual would be a benefit for a business owner.
Que? no hablo ingles.
When my great grandfather came to the United states he spoke fluent french, german, and english. He made a small fortune by becoming a butter and eggs man. If he wasn’t able to speak those languages, he said he’d never be able to make it. Business owners are cutting off their nose to spite their face when they claim they will speak one language only. Would you do business with someone who refused to speak your language?
Only if they want huge lawsuites and if they want their business to go down the hill.
It’s a little complicated, but the business owner has the right to ask this.
I live in a city where many of the residents speak another language as a first language. It becomes very problematic when employees cannot communicate with each other or customers because they do not understand each others language.
This business should be applauded for offering English classes.
The protesters obviously do not understand the limitations this puts on a business.
I think it depends on the situation. I work in the medical field, and I think that you would appreciate having someone speak the same language you speak to know if they are not sharing medical information about you…or if they are not laughing at you. It’s a dignity issue for customers, etc. Now the situation changes if it is a person of non english speaking background.
That is racist, absurd, ridiculous, and bad for business
The customer is always right. You don’t want to speak my language, I go some other place
there its many business which should require their employees to speak fluent English or at least some English , i think that its obvious , but to forbid them to speak their language or to speak only english goes into the territory of the stupid , it would be like asking every American who lives in san miguel de allende Mexico to speak only spanish , as i said it would be stupid … good thing the people from there are smart enough to even have news paper in english and spanish .
Btw i think than any Mexican living in the USA should be free as well to require their english speaking employees to only speak in Mexican .
i could care less i always chose the ones that are bilingual in company
Yes. I worked for a frozen foods distributor for about two months the beginning of ’09. It was very difficult, since there was a very large Spanish speaking population. Whenever we had meetings, whatever was said had to be translated. The last meeting I attended, an announcement was made the meetings would now only be in English. Employees were greatly upset, but had been hired on the premise they could speak fluid English. I have to tell you, there were a number who couldn’t speak a lick.
It shouldn’t matter what language people speak when they are simply conversing. However, I agree with the company in this instance there needs to be commonality for meetings, training, etc. It simply takes too long to accommodate everyone.
Yes,they should. A business should always be allowed to be run the way the owner wants. If his decision decreases his business,that is the chance he takes.
I’ve stopped going to two stores and one restaurant in my town because their employees stand around and talk in Spanish. The cook at the restaurant can’t speak a work of English and can’t understand when a special order is placed. I don’t want to patronize an establishment where I can’t understand what their employees are saying.
read the 14th Amendment in the Constitution. not only is English our national language it’s official. we are to Speak the language it was written in. if people come to this country then they need to learn it’s ways. when in rome do as in rome.
Yes, I require all of my reps to conduct their sales presentations in English. It prevents claims of misrepresentation. If a potential client doesn’t like it they are free to conduct their business somewhere else.
Maybe I am missing something, but what I got out of this article is that they don’t want employees speaking in other languages to EACH OTHER, not the customers. I can’t imagine a business would not want the customer spoken to in Spanish or any other language if that would help. I speak Spanish and I don’t want the staff standing around speaking Spanish or any other language when they should be helping me, and if they need to converse while, or about, helping me, I prefer they do it so I understand what they are saying. So yes, in the business, an owner should have the right to say “When you are working you will speak —- and when you are on break or not working you may speak in other languages.”