Healthcare firm accused of punishing Spanish-speakers settles suit

Latino workers in California and Texas allegedly punished for speaking Spanish in their workplaces will be granted up to $450,000, free English classes, and other relief under a consent decree approved in a class-action lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Los Angeles. The lawsuit alleged that Skilled Healthcare Group Inc. and affiliated firms, based in California with facilities in six Western and Southern states, enforced an English-only rule against Latinos but not other ethnic groups speaking Tagalog and other languages.