ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Some former employees of a Hess gas station and convenience store in Rochester, N.Y., said upper management threatened them with their jobs if they spoke Spanish while working, reported 13WHAM-TV.
Many were subsequently fired or transferred, and they have filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), said the report.
Jose Hernandez, a former manager at the store, said he was praised for increased sales and thought bilingual workers were a plus for customers who spoke Spanish. [image-nocss] I had one Hispanic on every shift in case there was a problem where somebody could not communicate in English, he told the newspaper.
But, Hernandez said, one day upper management told them they were only allowed to speak English.
They're asking us not to speak our language; that's a part of who we are. It's almost like telling us not to breathe. That's a part of who I am, Hernandez said.
He said he was transferred and his 23 employees fired.
Ted Kantor, the lawyer for the workers, told the paper, It seems to me it is clearly illegal to prevent people from speaking their native language It's a multi-lingual, multi-cultural world and people should be permitted to speak among themselves whatever languages that is common to them and comfortable to them.
In paperwork filed with the EEOC this week, lawyers for Hess deny any and all accusations made against them, the report said.. A spokesperson for the company told 13WHAM that it's a worker's right, if they feel wronged, to pursue legal options, but would not comment further on this case. Hess did not respond to a CSP Daily News inquiry by presstime.
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