EEOC Says College Discriminated Against Spanish-Speaking Workers

Friday, May 20, 2016 | 0

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled a Colorado university discriminated against Spanish-speaking workers, according to the Denver Post.

Spanish-speaking janitors at the Auraria Campus in Denver were forced to speak, sign documents and receive safety instruction in English, the EEOC said in a May 11 decision. 

The janitors filed a complaint in 2013 claiming, among other things, that they were told to sign forms waiving their rights to workers’ compensation benefits and medical care following workplace injuries. 

Katy Brown, a spokeswoman for the Auraria Higher Education Center, told the Denver Post the school does not discriminate against its employees.

“We do not have an English-only policy as you suggest; translations are allowed in the workplace,” she said in an email to the newspaper.