RICHMOND--No habla Ingles? Then the law won't protect you if you're fired as a result.
That's the thrust of bills introduced in the General Assembly this week by Del. Mark Cole, R-Spotsylvania, and Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax.
Cole's bill states that employers are not guilty of discrimination if they fire employees who violate a company policy requiring them to learn and speak English.
Cuccinelli's measure, drafted to a different section of the state code, says employees who violate such a company policy are guilty of misconduct and thus are not eligible for unemployment benefits if fired.
Cole said he was unaware of Cuccinelli's bill, but had filed his at the behest of constituents worried about a case last year in Massachusetts.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued the Salvation Army there after the charity fired two Hispanic workers who had not learned to speak English, even though it was the Salvation Army's policy that they do so.
"The thought was to make sure that doesn't happen in Virginia," Cole said. "It's appropriate since English is the official language of Virginia.
"I think that's a reasonable expectation for an employer to expect his employees to speak and understand English. It's just making clear that having English requirements is not discriminatory."
Illegal immigration has prompted dozens of bills this session. But an immigration lobbyist said the English-only bills would punish all immigrants, and especially those in the country legally.
"English-only bills like that are not about (legal immigration) status," said Claire Guthrie Gastanaga of the Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations. "It puts a stake in the heart of any argument that it's about illegal immigration."
Gastanaga said employers aren't supposed to be hiring undocumented immigrants anyway, so the only people affected would be legal immigrants. And undocumented immigrants are already ineligible for unemployment benefits.
To legal immigrants, she said, it sends a message that there's something wrong with being able to speak another language.
She also said Cole's bill could unfairly punish good workers who are elderly and have more trouble learning a new language. She noted that older people who have lived in the United States for years get special consideration on the requirement that a person learn English to become a naturalized citizen.
Cole sees it differently. He noted that in the past, immigrants to the United States had to learn English as a matter of survival, if not of law.
"I don't think you do people any favors by bending over backwards to accommodate them for not learning English," Cole said. "If you want to get ahead in this society and this economy, you've got to learn English."
Chelyen Davis: 804/782-9362