Rule prohibiting Spanish on the jobs ires Hispanics

The League of United Latin American Citizens plans to contest a Fort Worth-based petroleum company's rule requiring workers to speak only English while on the job.

Champlin Petroleum Company recently posted a memo stating that ". . . languages other than English are prohibited during working hours." Because many of the refinery's 518 workers are Mexican-Americans whose native language is Spanish, the rule is an invasion of an individual's freedom of speech, said league attorneys, who will file charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.