A possible remedy: businesses operating within a specific cultural region and providing a service to the public must at least be accommodating to those ethnic groups living within said region. Not the perfect solution, but business is business. Either you're there to make money or you're gonna close up.
Bar’s ‘Speak English’ sign illegal, panel says
Saturday, October 08, 2005
(AP)The Ohio Civil Rights Commission has ruled that a sign in the window of a southwestern Ohio tavern declaring, "For service, speak English," is discriminatory.
The panel said Thursday that the Pleasure Inn on Rt. 42 in Mason, northeast of Cincinnati, violated Ohio civil-rights law.
Commission spokeswoman Christia Alou White said the tavern could be ordered to remove the sign, to pay for advertisements about nondiscrimination, and its staff could be ordered to undergo diversity training or cultural-sensitivity training.
The business has 10 days to ask the commission to reconsider. The tavern owner’s lawyer declined to comment.
Ohio law says it is unlawful for any proprietor of a place of public accommodation to deny the full enjoyment of the accommodations based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age or ancestry.
The commission said the English-only rule serves no purpose other than to discriminate against non-Englishspeaking individuals.
Housing Opportunities Made Equal, an agency that handles fair-housing issues for eight counties, including Warren, where the tavern is located, filed a complaint in July after callers complained.
"I really think it’s an affront to Hispanic families in the area, and I’m glad that the commission agreed that it’s illegal discrimination," said Elizabeth Brown, the group’s executive director.