Last week, the federal government filed a lawsuit accusing Delano Regional Medical Center of prohibiting Filipino employees from speaking in Tagalog though it allowed the use of other non-English languages: Delano Regional accused of discrimination.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Fresno on behalf of more than 30 Filipino employees, claims that the staffers were harassed because of their national origin.The medical center's chief nursing officer says she's never witnessed any such discrimination by hospital staff, and that the hospital has never singled out any one culture. This of course, is not what the Filipino workers are saying.
It says the workers were subjected to humiliation, intimidation, heightened security and threats of surveillance, as well as unwelcome taunting and hostile remarks from co-workers and supervisors.
"It's about singling out a certain group of people," said the director of the EEOC's Fresno office, Melissa Barrios.
You might remember there was a similar incident a couple of months back when four Filipina nurses say they were fired for speaking Tagalog -- during their lunch break -- at Secours Hospital in Baltimore.
The lawsuit against Delano seeks a permanent injunction against future discrimination, as well as revision of certain policies and practices. It further requests unspecified financial compensation for the employees. More here: Delano Regional Medical Center Sued For National Origin Discrimination.