Fresno Manufacturing Workers File Charges Against Company for Termination Based on English Proficiency


For Immediate Release: March 18, 1999

Today, March 18, 1999, the Language Rights Project filed fourteen charges of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") against Nibco, Inc., an Indiana-based corporation with a manufacturing plant located in Fresno, CA. The charges accuse Nibco of discriminating against its foreign-born employees by requiring them to pass English-only examinations as a condition of keeping their jobs at the plant, despite the workers' successful job performance.

The plaintiffs in the case -- fourteen former and current Latina employees -- were working at Nibco's Fresno plant when the English testing requirement was imposed. "Although the exams supposedly tested their workplace knowledge, the workers had to take it in English. Because of that, the plaintiffs were all terminated even though they had flawless work records. Each of them had worked at the plant at least four years and some were employed for as long as 18 or 19 years," said attorney Donya Fernandez of the Employment Law Center, which filed the lawsuit along with the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California (ACLU-NC).

"There's absolutely no reason why it should suddenly become necessary for us to know English to keep our jobs. I worked at the plant for 9 years and did my job well without being proficient in English," said 38-year-old Martha Rivera, a 22 year resident of Fresno and one of the workers who filed charges. "I can't believe Nibco really thinks that there is any justified business reason for this policy. It makes no sense at all."

According to the charges, the plaintiffs' jobs -- which included making components for irrigation systems by manually assembling parts and operating production machines -- were routinized and repetitive in nature, requiring little communication in any language, let alone in English. Much of the workforce at the Fresno plant had long been comprised of immigrants whose proficiency in English was limited. In addition to the 14 Spanish-speaking workers who have come forward thus far, many other Latino and Southeast Asian employees were also fired because of their limited English proficiency, according to the plaintiffs' attorneys."Make no mistake about it, Nibco's English-only testing policy is discrimination, pure and simple," stated Marielena Hincapié, an Employment Law Center attorney. "Nibco's policy has no conceivable purpose that would make it legal. These were skilled and experienced workers who lost their livelihoods just because Nibco wrongly decided that they had to know English to do their jobs."

The plaintiffs were hired under the Fresno plant's previous ownership, which did not require its employees to be proficient in English. One employee, who had worked at the plant for 19 years before being terminated last September, was later offered her job back because her extensive experience at Nibco made it difficult for the company to replace her, her attorneys said None of the other plaintiffs have been offered their jobs back.

"I felt humiliated and discriminated against when I was let go after 18 years. I know I did my job well, and was always loyal to the company," said 44-year-old Alicia Alvarez. "I still haven't been able to find another job, and I don't know how I will be able to support my children."

"My family depends on my income, because my husband is retired, my son is in college, and my granddaughter also lives with me. Nibco told us we were being let go because there wasn't enough work. But I know that this isn't true, because they were hiring English-speaking workers to replace us at the same time," said 58-year-old Margarita Mendoza. "After I worked there for 11 years, it offends me to think that Nibco couldn't even be honest enough to tell us that they simply didn't want non-English speakers in their plant."

The EEOC is the agency charged by Congress with enforcing the federal laws that prohibit discrimination in employment. Because of the emergence of language-based discrimination in the workplace, which also includes similar practices as "speak-English-only" rules and accent discrimination, the EEOC has made investigating such cases a top priority in its national enforcement program.

ACLU-NC staff attorney Ed Chen said, "Discrimination because of limited English proficiency or foreign accent is far too common. Employers are only entitled to demand a level of English proficiency that is actually needed to perform job duties. The public should be aware that practices which deny people job opportunities on the basis of limited English proficiency can be just as unlawful and harmful as more overt forms of prejudice against ethnic and racial minorities."

"Nibco's policy, unfortunately, reflects just one part of the larger picture of discrimination against immigrants in present-day America," stated Chris Ho of the Employment Law Center. "Although restrictive language policies can sometimes be more subtle than other types of unfair treatment, anti-immigrant attitudes have typically manifested themselves throughout our history in this way. It's precisely for this very reason that many Federal courts have stressed the importance of closely scrutinizing language practices such as Nibco's -- because they are often a convenient cover for unlawful discrimination against national origin minority workers."

The Language Rights Project works to combat language-based discrimination in the workplace, and ensure equal access to government services. The Language Rights Information Line (1-800-864-1664) offers free legal advice and referrals in English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Cantonese to individuals who believe they have been subjected to discrimination based on their language or accent. The Language Rights Project is a joint project of the Employment Law Center and the ACLU-NC.