US govt sides with Pinoy nurses fired for speaking Tagalog

Source: gmanews.tv

No less than the United States government has sided with four Filipino nurses who were fired from a Baltimore hospital last year for speaking Tagalog.

The US Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) said the nurses were victims of discrimination, according to a report on the Asian Journal.

It quoted EEOC Baltimore field office director Gerald Kiel as saying the employer, Bon Secours Hospital System, appeared to have singled out the Filipina nurses.

“Other employees spoke Spanish and other languages contrary to the policies and were not disciplined. In addition, it appears more serious infractions of work rules were not comparably punished," Kiel said.

He added the four Filipinos were subjected to “unequal terms and conditions of employment, hostile work environment, disciplinary action and discharge because of their national origin."

Bon Secours Hospital had imposed an English-only rule for duty personnel in and outside its emergency department in early 2010.

However, the EEOC in its Aug. 16 decision said this rule “constitutes unlawful discrimination" because of the way it was applied to the Filipina nurses.

The EEOC told the hospital to settle with the nurses.

In 2010, Filipino nurses Corina Capunitan Yap, Anna Rowena Rosales, Hachelle Natano, and Jazziel Granada accused the hospital of firing them without due process after they spoke in Tagalog, their native dialect.

The nurses said they spoke Tagalog only during their break time and away from patients and other hospital staff.

In urging the hospital management to settle with the Filipina nurses, Kiel said this decision is “final."

“The commission now invites the parties to join with it in reaching a just resolution of this matter," he said.