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Sacked Filipino Nurses Seek Support for Discrimination Case, Insist Rights Were Violated | Balitang America
Sacked Filipino Nurses Seek Support for Discrimination Case, Insist Rights Were Violated
Baltimore, MD. - The four Filipino nurses have not gotten over their shock at being fired from their jobs at a Baltimore hospital for allegedly speaking Tagalog during their lunch break.
In an exclusive interview with the ABS-CBN North America News Bureau, the four nurses insisted their rights were violated after Bon Secours Hospital terminated them last week. “They claim they heard us speak in Tagalog and that was the only basis for termination. It wasn’t even because of my job, my function as a nurse,” lamented Hashelle Natano.
The Bon Secours Hospital imposed its English-only language rule last November, which covered only the emergency department, where the Filipino nurses worked. Some hospitals impose this rule to protect patients. However, Natano said they did not get any warning and felt they had been singled out.
For her kababayan Jazziel Granada, the termination was a bigger surprise because she worked at the human resources department. Granada said, “I’m really shocked because I am not a nurse, I’m a secretary, I’m not involved with patient care.”
The News Bureau tried to get a statement from the hospital but it had not yet responded as of press time.
Atty. Arnedo Valera of the Migrant Heritage Commission filed a discrimination complaint on behalf of the nurses before the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Valera contended the hospital’s imposition of the English-only rule violates the nurses’ civil rights. “There was no business necessity, no rational justification, no direct relationship between their speaking in Tagalog and the performance of their duties. In fact, in almost all incidents cited, they did (speak Tagalog) not while they were performing their duties, but during their break time.” (“Walang business necessity, walang rational justification or direct relationship ang pagsasalita nila ng Tagalog dun sa performance ng trabaho nila. In fact, halos lahat ng incidents na ginawa nila nangyari hindi sa performance ng duties kung hindi sa break time nila”) Valera explained.
Anna Rosales believes this sets a dangerous precedent for all foreign healthcare staff in US hospitals. She said she hopes to seek the support of nurses groups as they pursue their discrimination complaint against Bon Secours Hospital. Rosales said, “we got terminated because we were talking in our native language which is unfair to all Filipino nurses and I’m making an appeal to the nurses association that with this incident, I think we need to let them know that we didn’t harm any patient when we were talking in our native language.”
The nurses assured relatives in the Philippines they were alright even as they pursue their struggle for fair play and justice in a place they call the land of the free.
Four Nurse Pinays fired from their work(Hospital) because they were speaking Tagalog
Originally Posted by robstaman
katong niagi basta masakpan nga bayot or tomboy taktakon...
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