July 10, 2014 –
EEOC targets employer’s requirement that employees speak proficient English

The federal agency tasked with oversight of a range of employment laws has sued a Wisconsin company for requiring that its employees speak proficient English.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission stated in a lawsuit filed last month that the company’s English proficiency requirement amounts to discrimination based on the “linguistic characteristics of a national origin group.”

The EEOC has authority to bring suit and conduct investigations in all 50 states, so Florida employers should pay close attention to this developing issue, as it may represent a new frontier in workplace discrimination law.

The EEOC’s lawsuit claims that the Wisconsin company unlawfully terminated several Hmong and Hispanic employees for lacking English proficiency skills, which the EEOC claims were unnecessary to the employee’s job duties.

According to the EEOC, the terminated employees had previously received satisfactory performance appraisals, yet were terminated after a single 10-minute observation disclosed limited English proficiency.

To date, the law has made a distinction between two categories of English language-related rules in the workplace: blanket prohibitions against speaking any language other than English and English proficiency rules that are job-related for the position and consistent with business necessity.
While blanket English-only rules have been found to violate Title VII’s prohibition against national origin discrimination, English proficiency standards that are job-related and consistent with business necessity have generally been permissible. With regard to English proficiency requirements, courts may consider evidence of safety justifications for the rule or evidence of other business justifications for the rule, such as supervision or effective communication with customers, among other things.

The EEOC’s Wisconsin lawsuit may signal a renewed effort on the part of the agency to target English proficiency requirements and to limit the circumstances in which a business may adopt an English-proficiency requirement.

Employers who have English proficiency requirements for employees or who are considering implementing English proficiency standards should fully consider the positions involved and the business necessity of an English-proficiency requirement in order to ensure compliance with current law.

Should you need assistance in conducting such an analysis, please contact Gunster’s employment law practice team at 561-650-1980.

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