ALBUQUERQUE, NM—Yesterday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico sent a letter to counsel for Whole Foods Market, demanding that the grocery store chain adopt a language policy that respects the cultural diversity of New Mexico and does not discriminate against Spanish-speaking employees. The ACLU of New Mexico sent the letter on behalf of their clients, Lupe Gonzales and Bryan Baldizan, who were singled out and disciplined for speaking Spanish to one another while at work. Gonzales grew up in the village of San Ysidro in Northern New Mexico speaking Spanish as her first language and Baldizan has spoken Spanish with his family in Mexico since he was a young boy. For both employees, Spanish is an important part of their identity.
“I grew up speaking Spanish as my first language with my grandfather, who taught me to always be proud of our language and our heritage,” said Gonzales. “When my employer tells me I can’t ever use Spanish, they are taking away an important part of who I am as a person. I’ve worked for Whole Foods for 13 years, and have always had occasional workplace conversations in Spanish without any problems. I don’t understand why this is such a big issue all of a sudden.”
On May 23, 2013, a prepared foods department supervisor at the Whole Foods Market in Northeast Albuquerque held a team meeting to announce Whole Foods’ “English-Only” policy. Though the policy as written does not single out any particular non-English language, the supervisor only admonished the employees who spoke Spanish to one another at work, not the many other department employees who spoke other languages, including two Tibetan employees and six employees on the sushi team.
In its demand letter to Whole Foods, the ACLU of New Mexico states:
Imposing a “No Spanish” or an “English-Only” rule constitutes national origin discrimination in violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the New Mexico Human Rights Act, and the New Mexico State Constitution. The manner in which Ms. Gonzales and Mr. Baldizan’s department supervisor implemented the rule creates an unlawful hostile work environment.
After the two employees reported the discrimination to the store leader and human resources representative, management retaliated against Gonzales and Baldizan by suspending them in front of their coworkers. As a result of the suspension and Whole Foods’ discrimination, both employees suffered mental and emotional stress and Gonzales, who is a diabetic, was made physically ill by the experience.
“Spanish is an integral part of New Mexico’s culture and history,” said ACLU of New Mexico Executive Director Peter Simonson. “To humiliate and discriminate against employees for speaking a language that has been widely spoken here for nearly half a millennium shows a remarkable disdain for the values that our New Mexico communities hold dear. Whole Foods should adopt a workplace policy that respects our diversity and our heritage.”
Read a full copy of the ACLU of New Mexico’s demand letter to Whole Foods here.
ACLU-NM Legal Director Laura Schauer Ives represents Ms. Gonzales and Mr. Baldizan in this case.
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