English Only? Gov. Brown To Vote On Law Protecting Language Rights At Work

August 15, 2011 5:25 PM

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SACRAMENTO (AP) — A bill that arose from a dispute between a handful of lawmakers and the LPGA Tour is headed to Gov. Jerry Brown, three years after the tour rescinded a policy proposal calling for the suspension of players who did not speak English.

Sen. Leland Yee’s bill would prohibit businesses from requiring or banning the use of any particular language unless it provides notice of circumstances in which the restrictions are merited, such as communicating on the job.

Yee, a Democrat from San Francisco, says no one should face discrimination for simply speaking their own language. His bill adds language protections to the state’s civil rights act.

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a previous version.

SB111 was sent to Brown on Monday, when the Senate voted 23-15 to accept Assembly amendments.

English Only? Gov. Brown To Vote On Law Protecting Language Rights At Work

rich

the only time an employee should speak a language other then english at work is if that person has to talk to a customer who does not speak english. this could be in restraunts,retail and such but that is it there is never a reason to speak any language other then engish at work

Shiggity

Can people speak their on language on breaks? How is it living in your perfect world?

rich

if you read my statement i said AT WORK if you on a break your NOT AT WORK if i go into a business and hear their workers speaking a language other then englsih where customers can hear it and it is not being spoken to help a customer i will leave that business and never return i had this happen at the gas company i went in there to pay my bill and 3 employees who were not serving customers and were just standing behind the counter were talkin in a language i did not even recognize it was not spanish and they were not asians so im not sure what the language was but i was not english. this is america speak the language or leave my wife is korean i have been to her country with her and trust me they do not speak english to accomidate me yes some do speak it because the US has been there so long but my point is if you move to a new country then you need to speak their language in public and on the job what you do on your off time is your business

c-man

I think America needs to ban the practice of signs in strip malls being in a foreign language. Drive thru Koreatown in L.A. and see how many signs are completely in Korean. This is America. There are also billboards that are completely written in Spanish. If immigrants want to immigrate to America, I am for it. ONLY if they learn English and don’t get on public aid. Immigrants should embrace this country, not exploit it.
Speaka De Englesh!

Welcome to the great melting pot of the world!

Even if moon beam voted for the law. It dosn’t mean it will be enforced.
Another waste of tax payers money and time.

Lets stop the printing of 12 differant laguages for the DMV hand books. The state can save a 1/3 of it’s budget just by stopping that alone.

I have also walked out of companies that have employees talking in a language other than english, it is rude and should at least be a company policy that while on the clock, speak english, but I say again. Who is going to enforce this dumb law?

Can someone flush the turdlet, on there way out of California for me?
Amy

This is one of the reasons America is becoming the most hated nation in the world. The land of a bunch of ultra-conservative and overly delicate people. Trying to stop people from speaking a language other then English (whether on or off business) is like trying to stop people from speeding. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. So do what you do best Americans…whine, whine, whine.

shop owner

amy if they make this a law then it is EXTREEMLY easy to enforce i own a business and my employees are told to speak englsih while on my clock but right now i can not really do much pass a law sayin you can only speak english on the job and i get to fire your non complying self on the spot i own a computer repair shop and have 6 employees 2 of them speak spanish and insist on speaking to each other in my shop in the presence of customers in spanish if it was a law that you only speak english except when dealing with a customer who requires a diffrent language then i could fire both of these people who refuse to do as i tell them

Mga ulol!

Ang yayabang nyo, mga bwisit!
Mike Ball

Totally agree with Amy…and “shop owner”…you don’t need this kind of law to fire the two people that you mentioned…LOL. You only have 6 employees and you can’t get rid of 2 “at will” employees? Wow! You really need to learn how to fire people based on their “job performance” in order not to get in trouble legally. 20 years working for large corrupt corporations has taught me that in order to avoid discrimination law suites one has to make a paper trail of “employee needs improvement” jargon and of course the employee wont sign the incidents but it goes right into their employee file anyways. Similar to when, lets say a black family (I use blacks because they tend to ruin the tranquility of neighborhoods the most) start causing trouble in your apartment complex. Your not going to kick them out because their black (that’s illegal) you do little things that will bug them so much that they will leave on their own…raise their rent etc. Point being there is always a legal loophole one can find in any situation in order to get the satisfaction your looking for…it all involves a little legal research and time
EverydayGuy

I’m happy that I work in aerospace. No Spanish is spoken as when did a Spanish culture ever invent any thing of value?
IgnoranceIsNotBliss

EverydayGuy, working in aerospace is nothing to brag about. Ever heard of Google? A simple search would reveal that people of Latin descent have invented/discovered many things such as color television, birth control pills, the synthesis of DNA and RNA, and Christopher Columbus is from Spain. Do some research before you post such ignorant comments.

mike

i was with you till COLUMBUS he was not spanish he was italian he just sailed under the spanish flag for the spanish crown http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus
Uguess

EverydayGay Mom did not have birth control available?
English takes words from all languages
that’s what made it so successful
Cadiz in Spain was a great university
when Britain was in the dark ages
English monarchs are not just desended from the German or Anglo line
Look up their pedigree on Wiki

Karen

I think this law is unconstitutional but why should that stop the CA legislature or our governor?

CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE 3 STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SEC. 6. (a) Purpose.
English is the common language of the people of the United States
of America and the State of California. This section is intended to
preserve, protect and strengthen the English language, and not to
supersede any of the rights guaranteed to the people by this
Constitution.
(b) English as the Official Language of California.
English is the official language of the State of California.
(c) Enforcement.
The Legislature shall enforce this section by appropriate
legislation. The Legislature and officials of the State of California
shall take all steps necessary to insure that the role of English as
the common language of the State of California is preserved and
enhanced. The Legislature shall make no law which diminishes or
ignores the role of English as the common language of the State of
California.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate?waisdocid=47523920919+0+0+0&waisaction=retrieve
Mr. Tabasco

No habla ingles!
Vic Bailey

If people can’t speak English then they shouldn’t be allowed to drive, all applciations should be in English, that way, No English-No Job. Life is simple but Federal Judges and our Socialist Government are trying to make it complated!! This country has ONE FLAG ( Old Glory) and ONE LANGUAGE (English), if you don’t like it LEAVE!!!! Semper Fi.
Astonished

Could someone explain to me how you can take the driver’s test in any of about 22 different languages (and sometimes with an interpreter), and yet all street signs are in English AS THEY SHOULD BE! The way it is now California has no problem issuing drivder’s licenses to people who can’t communicate in English when they most need to!

The operating language of America is English. If the lawmakers can’t figure out that, then we are doomed. On the other hand if they pass this bill, maybe the taxpayers (who will be footing the price for this fiasco) should cry discrimination since only a few select languages are used. How about the rest of us who come from countries that don’t speak Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc., etc. I say if you can’t have signs in every language (several thousand at last count) then they shouldn’t be in any other language except English.