Ethics Newsline®

NEW YORK
U.S. employers must have a good reason to bar their employees from speaking foreign languages at the workplace, or they could likely face a discrimination lawsuit, the Associated Press reported.

Such lawsuits, targeting English-only policies in the workplace as a violation of federal antidiscrimination laws, are becoming more numerous as the United States absorbs a growing number of non-English workers.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which helps workers to challenge unfair working conditions, says that the number of lawsuits over English only policies has tripled over the past three years.

Under federal law, employers can require English-only policies if they can prove that the mandate is a “business necessity,” required to ensure workers’ and customers’ health or safety.

Otherwise, the policy is likely illegal and could be added to the list of 91 English-only lawsuits already filed this year alone, the AP report warns.