by Jayne Cannava, Executive Director

Two days ago, on January 18th, Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), who happens to be running for Mayor of San Francisco, re-introduced his disastrous bill that would add "language" to the state's civil rights act. "No one should be discriminated against simply for speaking their language," said Sen. Yee. He authored the same legislation in 2009 and it was passed by both Houses, but Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed it. I am not as optimistic that the new Governor, Jerry Brown (D) will veto the bill if it lands on his desk this year.

California's civil rights law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, prohibits discrimination within business establishments based on sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, marital status, and sexual orientation. Yee's newly introduced bill, S.B. 111, would prohibit a business from adopting a policy that requires, limits, or prohibits the use of any language within a business establishment.

You don't have to be an attorney to figure out the legal implications of this change. This bill threatens to unleash a flood of civil rights lawsuits against private and parochial schools, professional associations, hospitals, community organizations as well as individuals and employers who "discriminate" by failing to accommodate other languages. For example, under such a law, if a non-English speaking customer walks into a restaurant, and none of the waiters are able to communicate with the non-English speaker, the customer would be able to sue the business for "discrimination on the basis of language."

As written, S.B. 111 violates the free speech rights of employers and a private citizen guaranteed by Article I of the California Constitution and runs afoul of Article III, Section 6 of the California Constitution – the provision making English the official language of California. California voters adopted Section 6 by an overwhelming majority of seventy three percent (73%) in a 1986 statewide referendum. It reads in part, "The legislature shall make no law which diminishes or ignores the role of English as the common language of the State of California."

While civil rights statutes can effectively protect against "immutable characteristic" discrimination (such as race, ancestry, national origin, and gender discrimination), the language one chooses to speak in the workplace is not immutable and should not have protected status.

California's economy is suffering. Is now the time to burden California taxpayers with this costly legislation? The answer is a resounding NO.

Find your CA state legislators here to tell them that SB 111 is bad for California!

ProEnglish is a self-governing project of U.S., Inc., a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and the nation's leading advocate of official English. We work through the courts and in the court of public opinion to defend English's historic role as America's common, unifying language, and to persuade lawmakers to adopt English as the official language at all levels of government. You can make a tax-deductible donation here.

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