-
Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:- Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
- Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
- Access to private conversations with other members.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!
Is a "Speak English" sign in a business discriminatory?
- Thread starter Comprehend
- Start date
comprehend said:
I can't really understand his need to put the notice up; I would hardly walk into his steak house and order in French............
When in Rome.......However, I haven't answered the question itself; is it discriminatory ? I guess in these days of "P.C", it probably is seen to be.
Booko
Deviled Hen
comprehend said:
Well, and let's please not start requiring everyone to be able to translate everything.
Goodness, I work as a poll manager (next election in March) and we have new voters who come in whose language skills could be stronger.
I don't speak Hmong or Gujarati, though I have a smattering of Spanish. I'm *still* not going to try and assist a Spanish-speaking voter, though, because my Spanish is iffy and I'm not going to risk telling them something wrong either (especially when there are loads of Spanish-speakers working in the school anyway).
According to GA state law, any voter is allowed to bring an interpreter with them to assist.
Honestly, I don't know why we don't just confirm English as the official language and get on with things.
If that's somehow "racist" then as far as I know, most or maybe all of the other nations are racist too. At least we'll have good company.
As for the businessman, it's choice whether he wants to risk losing customers or not.
We have a thriving market here in Atlanta where the workers all wear tags listing what languages they speak. Just about any customer will be able to track down someone who can assist them without "officially" and "legally" demanding anything.
Comprehend
Res Ipsa Loquitur
PureX said:
and the damages would be....
nutshell
Well-Known Member
comprehend said:speaking of absurd, imagine if hospitals actually did it. Who could possibly staff an interpreter for every language spoken in NYC?
What happens if a man who only speaks mandarin goes into a rural kansas hospital? Do you really think it is a good idea to have a mandarin speaker on staff in every hospital?
also, blood and guts speak a universal language. If there is really something wrong with the person, they do not need an interpreter to point out what it is.
That's not how it works.
comprehend said:speaking of absurd, imagine if hospitals actually did it. Who could possibly staff an interpreter for every language spoken in NYC?
What happens if a man who only speaks mandarin goes into a rural kansas hospital? Do you really think it is a good idea to have a mandarin speaker on staff in every hospital?
also, blood and guts speak a universal language. If there is really something wrong with the person, they do not need an interpreter to point out what it is.
We have this problem all the time in our hospital. Many patients speak only Spanish or Navajo. We can always find staff who speak Spanish. Navajo is a bit more problematic but we do have some speakers on staff. There is a master list somewhere of which languages each staff member speaks, but the appropriately skilled person isn't always on duty, may have no skills in the medical terminology needed, or may not be a competent interpreter. We rely heavily on bilingual family members and encourage them to stay with the patient. When no interpreters can be found there are telephone services with skilled, certified interpreters we can use. It's a rather clumsy system but it works in a pinch.
</IMG>
nutshell
Well-Known Member
FYI
The interpreter of choice is the telephone. Hospitals (or anyone else for that matter) can sign up for telephone interpreting with a major interpreting company and they will literally have hundreds of languages at their finger tips within seconds. They will be paid a low per minute usage fee. It's a great business to be in (although Language Line established by AT&T is practically a monopoly).
Here is Language Line's website: http://www.languageline.com/
Here is the site of the small mom and pop I used to manage: http://www.pacificinterpreters.com/
The interpreter of choice is the telephone. Hospitals (or anyone else for that matter) can sign up for telephone interpreting with a major interpreting company and they will literally have hundreds of languages at their finger tips within seconds. They will be paid a low per minute usage fee. It's a great business to be in (although Language Line established by AT&T is practically a monopoly).
Here is Language Line's website: http://www.languageline.com/
Here is the site of the small mom and pop I used to manage: http://www.pacificinterpreters.com/
Comprehend
Res Ipsa Loquitur
nutshell said:That's not how it works.
how does it work?
Comprehend
Res Ipsa Loquitur
nutshell said:
judging by the post just above yours, it doesn't work too well...
nutshell
Well-Known Member
comprehend said:
Your leaping to conclusions.
The system works like magic. I think that hospital needs some serious training. For one think, telephonic interpreting is WAY cheaper than employing random bilingual staff that probably can't interpret anyways because (1) they have other job responsibilities and (2) they aren't trained interpreters. For another thing, family members SHOULD NEVER INTERPRET. That opens up a huge can of worms and puts the hospital at risk of liability.
PureX
Veteran Member
That depends. It could be as little as the wasted gasoline that the refused customer spent driving to that store, or as much as some nutty jury will allow for the "injury" of an insult. If I were a store owner, I'd be darned careful not to open myself up to such a suit just to appease my own prejudices.comprehend said:
Comprehend
Res Ipsa Loquitur
nutshell said:
ok. 1. I didn't leap to any conclusions. I said, judging by the post above yours... meaning, from that single example, it does not look to great.
2. I am getting the distinct impression you are somehow vested in this program. Do you have any connection to this?
3. I never said anything about having family members interpret.
Comprehend
Res Ipsa Loquitur
PureX said:
and then the judge says: nice try.
believe it or not, juries don't just get to run willy nilly all over handing out money even if that is what you see on tv.
no injury = no damages.
PureX
Veteran Member
This is not true in all states, which is why some states are notorious for awarding massive damages, and why there is a whole business based on seeking such damages in these particular states.comprehend said:
Also, often it is the jury that decides that an "injury" has occurred. And once that has been decided, they will have a set range within which they can choose to award damages. As long as the jury stick to this range, the judge cannot over-rule them.
And I'm not necessarily saying that they're wrong. Depending on specific circumstances, there could be ligitimate harm done by a store owner prejudicially refusing service. Imagine that a pharmacist refuses to fill a prescription because the patron is (whatever ... fill in the blank) and the patron collapses on the long walk to the next nearest pharmacy. Or imagine that the store owner humiliates a man in front of his children as he refuses him service, simply because he's (whatever ... fill in the blank). There are all sorts of ways in which ligitimate injury could be done by a store owner refusing service due to personal prejudice. And they could then be found liable for that damage.