Whole Foods Employee Suspended For Speaking Spanish To Another Whole Foods Employee

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Two employees at a Whole Foods Market store in Albuquerque say they were suspended last month after complaining about being told they couldn’t speak Spanish to each other while on the job. Bryan Baldizan told The Associated Press he 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. “I couldn’t believe it,” said Baldizan, who works in the store’s food preparation department. “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.” He said Whole Foods officials told them about company policy and issued the suspensions.

Someone speaking a foreign language that you don’t speak in front of you is the most awkward, degrading thing imaginable. Even though there’s only like a 5% chance they’re actually talking about you, they’re always 100% talking about you. You try and play along and laugh when they laugh, but you feel like you’re just laughing at yourself. It’s horrible. Can’t have that kind of experience while you’re paying 16 dollars for a cup of organic macaroni and cheese at Whole Foods. No speaking foreign languages is a great rule in the work place. Sure, that may make me sound like a xenophobe, but the truth is I’m not. I honestly just feel that America is the best country and the other countries aren’t as good. That used to be called patriotism.