CA bill bans 'language discrimination'
April 17, 2009
Sacramento -- Alarmed that a professional golf organization proposed excluding competitors who don't speak English, the state Senate acted Thursday to prohibit businesses in California from discriminating against customers, including refusal of service, based on the language they use.
The proposed law has sparked heated debate throughout the state as well as some anti-immigrant calls to the office of its author, Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), who has had his own experience with discrimination.
Yee proposed the law after the Ladies Professional Golf Assn. last year proposed, and then backed down from, a policy that would have suspended golfers who do not speak adequate English. The policy was based on the premise that language fluency in speeches and media interviews was critical to the sport's promotion.
The Los Angeles Times
This entry is in the following archive(s): California | US
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