A 40-year-old Filipina registered nurse working for Dameron Hospital in Stockton, California, who speaks with a thick Filipino accent was harassed by the new hospital director, describing her and fellow Filipino nurses as “too old and had been there too long.” The hospital director said that “the unit coordinators are old dummies who don’t speak English” so she wanted “to get rid of all of them.”
IMAGE CREDIT: ESQUIREMAG.PH PHOTO This happened during the ninth year of the Filipina nurse’s employment at the hospital, working as one of the hospital unit coordinators, 99 percent of whom were Filipinos. She claimed that the new hospital director, singling out the Filipino unit coordinators, told them during a meeting: “I don’t know how Dameron gets you guys. Your accents are thick. You don’t know what you are doing...those of you with a thick accent, those of you that cannot speak English...need to go back to school and learn how to read and write grammar.”
The Filipina unit coordinator resigned owing to the mental stress she had been subjected to, then sued the hospital and the department director for employment discrimination based on her national origin and age. She won the case.
Read “Mocking an employee’s accent may constitute work discrimination" in the July 27, 2019 issue of AsianJournal.com now!
