Guest Editorial
The National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON-US) expresses its solidarity with the four Filipino nurses who were summarily fired by the Bon Secours Baltimore Health System for speaking Tagalog at work.
NAFCON applauds the nurses for their courage in filing a discrimination complaint before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Corina Capunitan Yap, Anna Rowena Rosales, Hachelle Natano, and Jazziel Granada claimed their employer dismissed them without due process solely for speaking in their native tongue.
The hospital’s policy states that English is the principal language of their customers and must be the exclusive language spoken and written by all employees while on duty in the Emergency Department. However, the nurses do not recall speaking in Tagalog in front or while providing patient care in the Emergency Department. They admit speaking in their native language only during breaks at the nurses’ station.
NAFCON now asks the EEOC to find out if the hospital’s English-only rule in the workplace violates the Civil Rights Act.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a federal law that protects individuals from discrimination, based upon national origin and race. Some courts and governmental agencies have said that discrimination based on language is a form of national origin discrimination because primary language is closely related to the place a person comes from.
Should the EEOC find probable cause in the nurses’ complaint, the EEOC will issue a right to sue, after which they will file a case against Bon Secours Baltimore Health System before the district court and seek punitive damages of up to $500,000 for all four nurses.
There are over 4 million Filipinos in the United States, the largest Filipino population outside of the Philippines. Because of the deepening poverty in the Philippines, Filipino migration is no longer a phenomenon, but the norm of survival for many.
The Philippine Government assists in the forced immigration of Filipinos to the U.S. by tolerating corrupt schemes of human trafficking, disguised as legitimate overseas work placement. Such has been the case with the 27 Sentosa healthcare workers, Filipino teachers in Louisiana, and domestic helpers such as Marichu Baoanan.
The case of the four nurses is yet another example of how Filipino immigrants are discriminated against in the U.S. The Filipino community must come together in solidarity, and demand that the Bon Secours Baltimore Health System eliminate discriminatory policies. (Courtesy of the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns-U.S.)
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