Published: Friday, Feb. 12, 2010 / Updated: Friday, Feb. 12, 2010 11:34 AM
Gorman: CMS approves when staff translates for parents
He doesn't comment on school where ex-worker claims she was fired for it
CHARLOTTE --
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools encourages bilingual employees to translate for parents who don't speak English, Superintendent Peter Gorman said in the wake of a lawsuit alleging that a secretary was forced to quit after speaking Spanish to parents at Devonshire Elementary.
Gorman declined to discuss specifics about that school, citing the pending lawsuit in federal court. But he emphasized the district's support for staff who can communicate with parents who speak other languages: "We want our folks to translate. Bilingual staff is a beautiful thing for us. It helps moms and dads out, and it helps kids."
About 10,700 of CMS's 133,700 students come from homes where English isn't the first language. Spanish-speakers dominate that group, but the district says students come from 160 countries representing 146 languages. At Devonshire, in east Charlotte, 42 percent of students are Hispanic.
Ana Ligia Mateo, who is described in her lawsuit as a U.S. citizen who is "Nicaraguan/Hispanic," says she was hired as a bilingual secretary at Devonshire in 2006. Her lawsuit claims that a new principal, Suzanne Gimenez, took over in 2008 and announced that faculty and staff would no longer be allowed to speak Spanish to parents.
Mateo claims she was repeatedly reminded to speak only English, and after one confrontation with administrators was told she would have to leave if she wouldn't comply with the principal's "policy of no Spanish speaking." The suit says Mateo complained to the district's human resources office, where she was told she couldn't return to Devonshire unless she agreed to the principal's terms and was not allowed to transfer to another school. Mateo claims she was "effectively terminated" in September 2008.
CMS did not fire Mateo, Gorman said.
The Charlotte office of the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled in June that interviews supported Mateo's claim that her civil rights were violated and that she was discriminated against because of her national origin. That office urged CMS and Mateo to "eliminate the alleged unlawful practices by means of informal conciliation."
After conciliation failed, the U.S. Justice Department reviewed the case and decided not to sue on Mateo's behalf, but notified her that she could take legal action.
"This should not be taken to mean that the Department of Justice has made a judgment as to whether or not your charge is meritorious," says an October letter included with the suit.
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