Language/communication skills discrimnation

elektron22 · Jul 15, 2006

What is the name of your state? Illinois. I am posting this for a friend at work. The workplace is a non-profit organinzation. My friend processes payments made to the organization by members. He is responsible for ensuring the payments are properly applied into a membership database. The work is fairly complex; he works weekends often to make sure he meets month-end account closing deadlines. He likes his work and has worked there for 7 years. He says he has always received good performance reviews and been praised for being a hard worker. He has been training a temp to help him. The temp has been working with my friend several months. According to my friend the temp has made numerous mistakes which my friend has had to rectify. In investigating the situation, their supervisor has come to the conclusion the mistakes were made by the temp because the temp could not understand what was explained to him due to a language problem on the part of my friend who speaks with a spanish accent. The supervisor wrote a memo to his boss and the Administration Manager demoting my friend because his language skills (diction) prevent him from training people to assist him and therefore my friend had to be moved out of this position. My friend states he was given no warning this would happen; he was not spoken to about trying to improve his English by suggesting he attend diction classes; he was just demoted. The temp is being placed in my friend's position. There is also a new person starting immediately to take the temp's position (I'm unclear what position the new person is actually filling and not sure if it matters). Is there a case? My friend does speak with a spanish accent. He states the temp he trained never took any notes on what he was being told. My friend was asked to write down 10 things the temp did wrong. He wrote them hurriedly because he was trying to do his regular work against a deadline and his says his written English wasn't good because he was rushed. That piece of paper was used against him in the demotion memo the supervisor wrote as proof of my friend's poor English. It seems like my friend was manipulated and trapped into his own un-doing.

BelizeBreeze · Jul 15, 2006

elektron22 said:
What is the name of your state? Illinois. I am posting this for a friend at work. The workplace is a non-profit organinzation. My friend processes payments made to the organization by members. He is responsible for ensuring the payments are properly applied into a membership database. The work is fairly complex; he works weekends often to make sure he meets month-end account closing deadlines. He likes his work and has worked there for 7 years. He says he has always received good performance reviews and been praised for being a hard worker. He has been training a temp to help him. The temp has been working with my friend several months. According to my friend the temp has made numerous mistakes which my friend has had to rectify. In investigating the situation, their supervisor has come to the conclusion the mistakes were made by the temp because the temp could not understand what was explained to him due to a language problem on the part of my friend who speaks with a spanish accent. The supervisor wrote a memo to his boss and the Administration Manager demoting my friend because his language skills (diction) prevent him from training people to assist him and therefore my friend had to be moved out of this position. My friend states he was given no warning this would happen; he was not spoken to about trying to improve his English by suggesting he attend diction classes; he was just demoted. The temp is being placed in my friend's position. There is also a new person starting immediately to take the temp's position (I'm unclear what position the new person is actually filling and not sure if it matters). Is there a case? My friend does speak with a spanish accent. He states the temp he trained never took any notes on what he was being told. My friend was asked to write down 10 things the temp did wrong. He wrote them hurriedly because he was trying to do his regular work against a deadline and his says his written English wasn't good because he was rushed. That piece of paper was used against him in the demotion memo the supervisor wrote as proof of my friend's poor English. It seems like my friend was manipulated and trapped into his own un-doing.

You ramble on and on without paragraphs or space to make your post easier to read and yet have asked not one legal question.

Caveman · Jul 15, 2006

Mr elekton I too have a hard time getting my message across, you may want to edit your post.

I have heard a paragraph is a bad thing to waste. ( but some people spell it waist... but we will not tell who) They are supposed to be a doctor or something. (???)

elektron22 · Jul 17, 2006

BelizeBreeze said:
You ramble on and on without paragraphs or space to make your post easier to read and yet have asked not one legal question.

Is there legal action that can be taken when a person is demoted due to poor English skills?

This person has a 7-year track record of good performance reviews. He was not warned ahead of time that his English was a problem nor given a chance to improve.

BelizeBreeze · Jul 17, 2006

elektron22 said:
Is there legal action that can be taken when a person is demoted due to poor English skills?

On that reason alone? no

This person has a 7-year track record of good performance reviews. He was not warned ahead of time that his English was a problem nor given a chance to improve.

Irrelevant.

mitousmom · Jul 17, 2006

This is from EEOC's website:

Accent Discrimination

Because linguistic characteristics are a component of national origin, employers should carefully scrutinize employment decisions that are based on accent to ensure that they do not violate Title VII.

An employment decision based on foreign accent does not violate Title VII if an individual's accent materially interferes with the ability to perform job duties. This assessment depends upon the specific duties of the position in question and the extent to which the individual's accent affects his or her ability to perform job duties. Employers should distinguish between a merely discernible foreign accent and one that interferes with communication skills necessary to perform job duties. Generally, an employer may only base an employment decision on accent if effective oral communication in English is required to perform job duties and the individual's foreign accent materially interferes with his or her ability to communicate orally in English. Positions for which effective oral communication in English may be required include teaching, customer service, and telemarketing. Even for these positions, an employer must still determine whether the particular individual's accent interferes with the ability to perform job duties.

English Fluency

Generally, a fluency requirement is permissible only if required for the effective performance of the position for which it is imposed. Because the degree of fluency that may be lawfully required varies from one position to the next, employers should avoid fluency requirements that apply uniformly to a broad range of dissimilar positions.

As with a foreign accent, an individual's lack of proficiency in English may interfere with job performance in some circumstances, but not in others. For example, an individual who is sufficiently proficient in spoken English to qualify as a cashier at a fast food restaurant may lack the written language skills to perform a managerial position at the same restaurant requiring the completion of copious paperwork in English. . . . the employer should not require a greater degree of fluency than is necessary for the relevant position.

http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/national-origin.html#VA

Unless your friend's job has substantially changed, his past performance record may make it hard for his employer to show that the language problems with the temp justified his demotion.

Your friend should contact EEOC for further information.

elektron22 · Jul 18, 2006

mitousmom said:
.....

Unless your friend's job has substantially changed, his past performance record may make it hard for his employer to show that the language problems with the temp justified his demotion.

Your friend should contact EEOC for further information.

Thank you for responding and giving a direction to look in.

elektron22 · Jul 18, 2006

BelizeBreeze said:
On that reason alone? no

Irrelevant.

Thanks for the straightforward answer.

Language/communication skills discrimnation

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