Pinay nurses win nearly $1-M language discrimination case vs. US hospital

For being mocked for their accents and ordered to speak "English only," a group of Filipino nurses won a nearly $1-million language discrimination settlement against a California hospital. According to a report of the news site LA Times, lawyers from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced on Monday a $975,000-settlement for the 69 immigrants who filed the case in 2010. Anna Park, a Los Angeles-based attorney for the commission, said the Filipina complainants suffered "constant harassment and humiliation when they opened their mouths, or talked with family members on the phone." Park said the nurses were banned from speaking Tagalog and other Philippine dialects in break rooms, hallways, and the cafeteria.

 

However, LA Times said officials of the Delano Regional Medical Center "insisted they did nothing wrong and settled the lawsuit only because it made financial sense." Under the settlement agreement, the hospital will conduct anti-discrimination training and hire a monitor to track workplace conduct.  

The hospital administrators were tasked to conduct regular staff training on diversity and to enforce reporting and handling of discrimination complaints. 

 

"Ssshhh, English only" One of the nurses, Elnora Cayme, who worked at the hospital for more than 27 years, told the LA Times, "They were always telling us, 'Ssshhh. English only. English only. I felt embarrassed, ashamed." Even housekeepers and security guards were reportedly instructed to "act as vigilantes," watch the nurses, and report if they made any violations. 

 

The report said the hospital had a mix of bilingual employees speaking Spanish, Hindi, Bengali and other languages. However, LA Times said the managers targeted only the Filipinos.

 

Park said the language policy created a hostile work environment where one worker reportedly sprayed air freshener on a Filipino employee's lunch to register her "hatred for Filipino food." - VVP, GMA News