Supercuts sued for ban on Spanish

[truthpusher]

http://www.suntimes.com/cgi-bin/print.cgi

Supercuts sued for ban on Spanish
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August 12, 2005
BY NATASHA KORECKI Federal Courts Reporter
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Some Chicago businesses post "Se Habla Espanol" signs to boast about their Spanish-speaking employees.

But two hair stylists said in a federal lawsuit Thursday that their former bosses at Supercuts posted a different sign:

"Speaking a language other than English is not only disrespectful, it's also prohibited."

Stylists say the notice was put up in 2003, directed at employees as Supercuts managers allegedly barred them from speaking Spanish anywhere at work -- including in the break room or other places outside the earshot of customers.

Supercuts says there is no such ban.

(snip)

complete story: http://www.suntimes.com/cgi-bin/print.cgi

[MisterP]

1. here:

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-supercuts12.html

[Cha]

2. So, it's like "he said,

she said"?

[Catch22Dem]

3. I believe them when they say Supercuts has no such policy

It was undoubtedly some asshole who ran that particular franchise.

[alarcojon]

4. I agree with that

but I can't express how pissed I am at this asshole.

...Memon said Gonzalez and Sauceda were told it was "ignorant" and "disrespectful" to speak Spanish at work.

Is the boss a Minuteman or something? Ignorant to speak Spanish at work?

[Igel]

6. This is a tough call.

"Ignorant" in many places has undergone the same semantic shift as "rude", and now is close in meaning to "rude." That's how I take it when in the same context with "disrespectful."

When somebody who doesn't share one of your languages is around, you either shift to a common language or not; or, you maintain a shared language or shift to one that's not shared. Those, and silence, are pretty much all the options. Shifting in such a way that somebody's excluded because a customer requires it, or when you're in a very trusting, close knit group, is routinely judged to be ok. In other settings, not including someone that you could include fairly clearly means "Go away, we don't want you here, we don't want you in this conversation," whether it's by not shifting languages so as to include him (her), or shifting in order to exclude him (her). This is rude and disrespectful if said in words; it's rude and disrespectful if conveyed by language choice. Even hostile.

If I ran a workplace and this occurred, I would make clear how I interpreted it. If it persisted, I would reciprocate: if people are rude to me, I tend to be rude right back to them. I would not hire a monolingual speaker whose language I didn't speak, so the entire issue of 'no shared languages' wouldn't arise.

When I've been an employee and this occurred with my fellow workers, I've answered disrespect with disrespect. The problem usually is resolved fairly quickly. Civility is almost always far less troublesome than rudeness.

[alarcojon]

7. Strongly disagree

First, the article states that the alleged ban on Spanish was including in the break room or other places outside the earshot of customers. I agree that speaking a foreign language in front of customers is rude.

Full disclosure: My mother is a US citizen who immigrated to Chicago from Ecuador. She speaks English, but is FAR more comfortable in Spanish. Why shouldn't she be able to speak Spanish with other immigrants while having lunch, even if non-Spanish speaking fellow workers are around? I certainly wouldn't care if a group of, say, Polish, sat around at lunch and spoke Polish. Why should I?

And I'll also quibble with your re-definition of "ignorant." You're welcome to your opinion, of course.

[Igel]

12. Yes. Precisely.

It's outside of a work environment. That makes it social. Then it's just the management and employees. I've been on both sides.

If you're sitting in a break room and your boss walks in, what's the boss's response if everybody turns their back on him (her) and starts to speak in hushed voices, or if they just tell him (her) to get out, he's unwanted. Very rude, very disrespectful. We'd all be nervous, and the boss would get the idea and leave--but nervousness isn't rudeness.

If the relationship's really good between the boss and the employees, it's ok. Otherwise I'd either expect the same kind of language mixing rules to apply that I'm used to, or steps taken to make sure there's enough good will that rudeness isn't assumed to be the underlying cause.

Then again, it's always possible the guy's a racist pig. But a quick scan, from what I remember from a couple of days ago, didn't make that obvious to me.

[Bassic]

15. What you would not let them talk their own language between themselves?

I'm sorry but that's just ridiculous. As a French-Canadian, I can tell you how I would react if my boss told me to stop speaking French at work, and it would involve something along the lines of "Hell no"

Course, I don't talk to English clients in French either..

[Cobalt Violet]

5. Yes, some stupid incompetent manager.

SuperCuts gets the help they pay for.

[K8-EEE]

8. Que Barbaridad!

My hairdresser is an idie, she's from Barcelona & she helps me with my Spanish!

[SlavesandBulldozers]

9. stupid bastard probably printed the sign in English

just sayin.

[Swamp Rat]

10. ¡Bésamelo!

[alarcojon]

11. Pinche culero!

midday kick!

:kick:

[sakabatou]

13. Supercuts sucks

Always gave me a bad haircut.

[Cobalt Violet]

14. The hairstylists are treated like machines. Minimum wage + tips.

They are required to do 3 haircuts per hour. You get what you pay for.