EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION: Salinas Company Charged with Race Discrimination Lawsuit

January 23, 2010

Salinas -Two women have filed lawsuits against waste-hauler BFI alleging that the company has discriminated Latino workers and has imposed English-only policy even during break periods.

In a lawsuit, Liliana Jimenez and Elizabeth Castillo said they were hired to work in the customer service department because they can communicate with customers, most of whom speak Spanish.

“It’s ironic that the company hired us because we can speak Spanish and yet they did not allow us to speak Spanish among ourselves”, Jimenez said.

“The supervisors were also harassing us for being Mexicans, making derogatory remarks like Mexicans are lazy”, Jimenez added.

The two employees, who are seeking compensation for loss of wages and job reinstatement, also allege that they were passed for promotions because of their Mexican heritage and had been harassed for complaining about the English-only policy.

Jimenez added that she was fired for complaining about the policy.

When asked for comments, BFI’S parent company Republic Services said it will review the suit before making any comment about the charges.

However, Peg Mulloy, the company’s spokeswoman, said they are following all the employment regulations to protect employees from a hostile environment.