Florida bosses told Puerto Rican medical staffers: Speak English or be fired, workers say

HAINES CITY, Fla. – Seven Puerto Rican health-care workers say supervisors at a Florida government-run clinic warned them to stop speaking Spanish among themselves or they would get fired.

The women work at the Florida Health Department clinic in Haines City.

A Monday statement from the community group La Mesa Boricua de Florida says the group filed a human-resources complaint and wrote a letter to the Florida Department of Health.

The workers say the job required they be bilingual because of the Hispanic patients.

Nurse Mairyli Miranda says she and her co-workers speak in English with non-Spanish-speaking patients and staff but choose their native language to talk to one another.

The health department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission states English-only rules may violate federal laws unless they are “justified by business necessity.”

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