Whole Foods Suspends Workers For Speaking Spanish In New Mexico Store

Living in a foreign country is not easy, especially when you have to learn a whole new language to fit in. There are days when your mind is so tired of trying to think in your new country's native tongue, that finding someone who shares your same cultural background seems like winning the lottery.

So when Bryan Baldizan, a Whole Foods Market employee in one of the New Mexico's locations, got suspended for a day for speaking Spanish at work with another worker, he was more than shocked.

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"I couldn't believe it," said Baldizan to The Associated Press. "All we did was say we didn't believe the policy was fair. We only talk Spanish to each other about personal stuff, not work."

Baldizan, who works in the store's food preparation department, and a female employee, were suspended for a day after they wrote a letter following a meeting with a manager who told them Spanish was not allowed during work hours. He said Whole Foods officials told them about company policy and issued the suspensions.

Ben Friedland, Whole Foods Market Rocky Mountain Region Executive Marketing Coordinator, said the Austin, Texas-based company believes in "having a uniform form of communication" for a safe working environment.

"Therefore, our policy states that all English speaking Team Members must speak English to customers and other Team Members while on the clock," Friedland said in a statement. "Team Members are free to speak any language they would like during their breaks, meal periods and before and after work."

According to Friedland, the policy doesn't prevent employees from speaking Spanish to customers who don't speak English nor does it prevent them from speaking Spanish if all "parties present agree that a different language is their preferred form of communication." The policy also prevents employees who don't speak Spanish feeling uncomfortable, said Whole Foods Market spokeswoman, Libba Letton.

Ralph Arellanes, state director of New Mexico League of United Latin American Citizens, said the Whole Foods Market policy violates New Mexico's state constitution, which protects Spanish and American Indian languages.

It is a little ironic that this incident happened in New Mexico, the most Hispanic state in the nation, who also saw recent cases of Spanish being barred from high school athletic competitions.

Last month, New Mexico Military Institutes's Jose Gonzáles was penalized a point for speaking Spanish after an on-court official warned him twice to speak only English during a state championship tennis singles match, and in April, an umpire resigned after being accused of trying to ban New Mexico high school baseball players from speaking Spanish during a game.