Milwaukee Custard Stand's "English Only" Policy Draws Fire
(CBS) -- A Latino organization has asked for a federal investigation of a Milwaukee frozen custard stand, because the owner has required his employees to speak only English.
Schneider said he wants he wants everyone to be able to speak the same language, and the policy is nothing more than a business decision.
"I speak English. I hope everybody else does. If you don't, we're going to try and wait on you as best we can. I have a couple of employees who are pretty fluent in Spanish. The trouble is these are part-time kids, they're not here all the time. So if you come up here expecting we can speak Spanish, we may be able to, but we may not," he said.
According to CBS 58, Word got out about the policy after a Spanish-speaking customer posted on social media about how he tried to place an order at Leon's in Spanish, and was told he would have to do so in English.
The League of United Latin American Citizens has asked for an investigation by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which has ruled it is illegal to require employees to speak only English in the workplace, unless those policies are "reasonably necessary to the operation of the business."
According to the EEOC website, requiring employees to speak only English in the workplace at all times is rarely justified, and an English-only rule should be limited to circumstances when "it is needed for the employer to operate safely or efficiently."
