Untitled Document

ProEnglish Joins National Boycott of Miami Area Over Employee Fired for Not Speaking Spanish

ProEnglish
News Release
May 10, 2002

(Arlington, VA) The head of ProEnglish, a 50,000-member national organization that advocates making English the official (non-exclusive) language of government, announced that it was joining a national boycott of the Miami area over an incident in which a mother of two who was 16-year employee of Miami Dade County was fired from her job for not speaking Spanish.

"This is an outrage by any standard, especially in a state in which English is the official language," said ProEnglish Executive Director K.C. McAlpin. He said that he had spoken on several occasions with the employee involved, Zita Wilensky, and was convinced her story was true. McAlpin added, "Not only was Ms. Wilensky fired for not speaking Spanish, she appears to have been the victim of a campaign of intentional harassment on the job simply because she was not Hispanic." Ms. Wilensky recently adopted a second child and is living on unemployment while she seeks another job. According to press reports, she had compiled an exemplary record during her 16 years as a county employee before she was fired.

McAlpin said that in addition to urging ProEnglish’s members to boycott the Miami area, the organization had offered free legal assistance to Ms. Wilensky to help her get rehired.

Mr. McAlpin is available for interviews on official English and related issues. Call (703) 816-8821.


Activism Urge Congress to defend English Your Congressmen Current Legislation State Profiles Petition Issues Official English Bilingual Education English on the Job Citizenship and Immigration Bilingual Ballots Puerto Rican Statehood Ending E.O. 13166, the "Multilingual Mandate" Resources Model official English statute Backgrounders Pending legislation Census 2000 data Myths & Facts Poll Data Contact us: 1601 N. Kent St. Suite 1100 Arlington, VA 22209 ph: (703)816-8821		ProEnglish Joins National Boycott of Miami Area Over Employee Fired for Not Speaking Spanish ProEnglish News Release May 10, 2002 (Arlington, VA) The head of ProEnglish, a 50,000-member national organization that advocates making English the official (non-exclusive) language of government, announced that it was joining a national boycott of the Miami area over an incident in which a mother of two who was 16-year employee of Miami Dade County was fired from her job for not speaking Spanish. "This is an outrage by any standard, especially in a state in which English is the official language," said ProEnglish Executive Director K.C. McAlpin. He said that he had spoken on several occasions with the employee involved, Zita Wilensky, and was convinced her story was true. McAlpin added, "Not only was Ms. Wilensky fired for not speaking Spanish, she appears to have been the victim of a campaign of intentional harassment on the job simply because she was not Hispanic." Ms. Wilensky recently adopted a second child and is living on unemployment while she seeks another job. According to press reports, she had compiled an exemplary record during her 16 years as a county employee before she was fired. McAlpin said that in addition to urging ProEnglish’s members to boycott the Miami area, the organization had offered free legal assistance to Ms. Wilensky to help her get rehired. Mr. McAlpin is available for interviews on official English and related issues. Call (703) 816-8821. .