Starbucks workers say they weren't allowed to speak Spanish on the job

Two Starbucks employees in Santa Fe say they were unfairly denied promotions and prohibited from speaking Spanish on the job. They've filed complaints. A company spokesman says Starbucks permits its employees to speak Spanish on the job. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

Comments

[toddyarling]

If they were in an english speaking country, why are they speaking spanish?

This kinda thing drives me nuts.

[Nicholaus]

This isn't a strictly english speaking country. Remember, there is NO official language in the United States. Furthermore, as someone who has worked in three marketplaces (Denver, San Jose, and Syracuse) I can tell you that some areas of the country, you WANT someone who is fluent in Spanish because there are plenty of customers who aren't good at ordering their custom drink in English.

However, I've run into the problem of partners using a second language (not necessarily Spanish) to talk negatively about other partners and/or customers. That is completely unacceptable to me, and if that was the case, than I can see there being problems.

[Leigh-Ann]

As someone who lived in Albuquerque for many years and spent a great deal of time in Santa Fe, I can say that in many areas of town, it would be completely appropriate for Starbucks employees to be speaking Spanish. They might be speaking Spanish to customers, they could be speaking Spanish because it's the primary language of that part of town, or they could even speak some Spanish to contribute to "ambience" (especially in Santa Fe). This may be an "English-speaking country", but areas like New Mexico were settled by Spanish-speakers long before any English-speakers arrived, and the language is an in-grained part of the culture. Santa Fe isn't a city of immigrants who didn't learn English -- it's a city of people with 400 years of Spanish-language roots.

[maxie]

"This isn't a strictly (e)nglish speaking country. Remember, there is NO official language in the United States"

I know it would be too much to ask all these "new" Mexican territories to assimilate a little bit of English culture. I have no problem with them speaking Spanish, but I'd rather we just give the land to Mexico or South America and be done with the conversation. I'm through having my $20K in federal taxes go anywhere near the western side of this country.

Its not inappropriate for people working at McDonalds to speak Spanish to each other so why Starbucks? I guess being able to speak more than one language isn't legendary. When Starbucks becomes so concerned with what their idiot yuppie customers think that workers can't speak their native language in fear that some soccer mom will be offended then theres a big problem.

So much for embracing diversity.

[MAXIE]

"So much for embracing diversity."

If you feel this way, why not give some or all of your money to other countries? I'm sure S. America or Canada, two diverse countries, would love your money. Why not send it to South Africa too. In fact, you could move to South Africa and swim in the beautiful diversity there.

To fit in though, you should NOT learn their culture or language and try your best to get the lowest paying job possible. In this way, and with the help of others like yourself, you can assure all the big, wonderful corporations that they will keep making their quarterly targets.

[Name withheld to protect the guilty]

"I know it would be too much to ask all these "new" Mexican territories to assimilate a little bit of English culture. I have no problem with them speaking Spanish, but I'd rather we just give the land to Mexico or South America and be done with the conversation."--maxie

And what language did your ancestors speak when they reached this land?

Most immigrants do make an effort to learn English, because it is nearly impossible to get by without at least some...and if they're too old to learn much (I've met more than a few, mostly Italians in the place I worked last), their kids always learn flawless English. In all cases, they do assimilate some "American culture" (whatever that is), and also protect some of their own...just as all subgroups of people do in this country (be they Irish, Italian, Russian, African, Japanese, whatever).

(directed more generally:)
These guys were American citizens, not illegal immigrants. If they feel more comfortable talking their native language to each other, then fine. (If they're talking about customers or other employees, that's a problem no matter what language it's in, and a whole different discussion.) If you moved to, say, Germany, would you speak anything but English to an American you worked with?

[deusx]

Actually, I feel that if in the presence of those who don't all share a mutual understanding of a language (say spanish), choosing to use that language when some present can't understand it is as rude as whispering things in their company.
It's exclusionary and even if what you are discussing is innocent, it certainly doesn't seem so to the person you left in the dark. I imagine that the workers in question weren't being punished for speaking spanish to customers who don't speak english. They were having personal conversations in the presence of others, which is just rude since they are capable of speaking english. Rudeness isn't star skills. You are paid to use star skills. Not doing things you are paid to do is bad...mmkay?

[Fat Little Pug]

I agree with what DEUSX said. I would also like to point out that it's riduculous for people to ACTUALLY think that a corporation as large as Starbucks, and under as much SCRUTINY (the site, for instance) as it is, would EVER prohibit employees from speaking their native language at work, UNLESS it was under the circumstance DEUSX points out.

I, after the SUGGESTION from my DM and RDO hired a spanish speaking employee to help me fit into my primarily spanish speaking community. She was great, and connected with MANY customers in legendary ways, both in Spanish and English. She even started teaching the other partners phrases that would help them interact with customers and answer certain common questions.

How's that for "Embracing diversity as an essential component of the way we do business?"

I totally agree with you deusx. Really well said. If my partners are speaking a language to a customer - great. Because they are making an attempt to connect with that customer. Speaking your native tongue on the floor though when customers or others working with you don't speak that language is not using star skills.

[Boston Starbucks Rebel]

I am know several other languages other than English. They include French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese and Mandarin. Also I also completely literate in Greek, Attic and Koine. Also, I literate in classical and medieval Latin. At the present time I am learning Arabic and Gaelic. However, I always speak English first and will only speak English to any customer who comes into my store. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Basically I could go almost anywhere in the last 3000 years and hopefully find somebody to speak with.

[Boston Starbucks Rebel]

I would make a point of finding the coffee plant and start Starbucks off 3000 years earlier. Can you imagine how many stores there would be now!

[Nome Gusta]

Spanish at Starbucks??? I wish I were so lucky. The Starbucks here in Foulmouth, North Dakota is run by nerds, and all they speak is Klingon.

Last week I placed my order, and when the geek behind the counter said "Q'Plah!" for like the thousandth time I got pissed off, grabbed him, dragged his ass over the counter and started beating him. Then his coworker came over to try to pull me off, and he had a Bat'leff with him, but it turned out it was just cardboard wrapped with duct tape, so I cockpunched him.

"This is AMERICA! We speak ENGLISH! DO YOU UNDERSTAND???" I screamed as I repeatedly dunked their heads in a pot of steamed milk.

And that finally got the message across. Or so I thought. Today I went in, and those nerds were all speaking Elvish. Oh how I hate them.

[Christopher]

As a private company, shouldn't Starbucks be allowed to have any rules they wish (barring murder, etc.)? No one is forced to work there.

It's not a private company.

[deusx]

Ahh ignorance. It IS a private company. And yes, Christopher, barring a certain small amount govt restrictions they can run their shit as they see fit. Our CEO could wake up tomorrow and decide his new vision is that we all wear purple thongs, orange bicycle shorts, lime green tank tops and rainbow suspenders and that my friend would be the new dress code.

That would be kinda cool (if not flamingly gay...)

[deusx]

Oh yeah, I would like to give a shoutout to Tom Walters TWalters@starbucks.com. As far as I can tell he is one of the people paid by the company to check up on this site and other places.
Sorry Tom, Dave's not here.

[Lauren]

Welcome to the world of diversity Tom.

I think this is almost incredulous.

For those of us who work for Starbucks I think we can honestly say that something is coming off as fishy here. I have a feeling you wouldn't be suspended for speaking spanish with customers (if that were the case the manager would be far gone by now). I have a feeling there was some talk going on while they were on bar or in the back room or what not and being that Starbucks does cater to the typically "white" image (or at least more upscale in most focuses) it wouldn't really flow well.

I couldn't see a manager doing anything besides asking them to stop on several occasions. I don't think it has anything to do with race or national origin -- the story is just too vague to really put any sort of sense to it.

And I'm ALL for the purple thing, orange bike shorts, and lime green tank top complete with Mork and Mindy rainbow suspenders idea. I mean it won't happen but Schultz-y, pretty please?

[Adam in Racine WI]

This doesn't strike me as discrimination on the part of Starbucks, it seems more like a misunderstanding. Starbucks would do well to write a more explicit policy around the use of languages other than English in their U.S. stores.

Deusx makes a good point re: speaking Spanish being perceived as rude. This has happened to me before in food service locations other than Starbucks. I felt it was rude, but it really wasn't that big of a deal to me. If I were ever really offended, I would probably just take my business elsewhere.

[Lou Sussler]

No Deusx, it is a public company with publically traded shares. A private company has privately traded shares. That is the difference.

Schultzie could, however, still wake up tomorrow and change your dress code as you described. As a public company, the Board of Directors could then remove him if they wished.

[Sarah]

Sounds like Starbucks is going to have a legal debate over this matter. If the "company spokesperson" says that they permit employees to speak Spanish, but the "store" denied them of it, there's a conflict. So who is right? This is a very subjective matter, and to come to a decision based on diversity and the people's rights, Starbucks might have to pay up to keep their reputation clean. Oops!

[Drinker]

There are a lot of people in this country who get extremely worked up over anything having to do with Mexican immigration, documented or illegal.

They get rabid beyond reason. Any political topic will generate emotional heat but it is not usually directed against a particular group.

Anyway, I mention this because some of the initial posts look like they come from this camp.

I would find nothing rude about working next to two people speaking spanish to each other. Learning a new language is tough, especially when it's a particularly bewildering one like English. If I were working in Spain I'd LOVE the chance to take a break and revert to English for a while.

It's funny -- working a service job, learning spanish is one of the few ways to increase your economic worth on the job. Yet so many people try and quash it out of insecurity.

[Maddox]

Right on, Drinker. News flash: immigrants aren't taking anything from Americans. I'm sick and tired of lazy gluttonous Americans bitching about immigrants "taking" our jobs. It's not like they can literally come to America, ambush us in the parking lot and take our jobs.

If you lose your job to an immigrant, it's probably because he or she was willing to work harder for less money. Don't want to pay them full wages? Then don't hire them. If they do equal work, then they deserve equal pay. It's just that simple, and I'm not going to sit back like every other racist piece of shit bitching about having to work harder because there's a little competition for my job, immigrant or otherwise. I know I can do my job better than anyone, and if an immigrant thinks he can do a better job than I can, I welcome him to try.

What kind of chicken shit pussy is afraid of competition? Can't get a job because you lost out to an immigrant? Well TOUGH SHIT. Nobody wants to pay you for your half-assed work if someone else can do it better. That's what America is all about. Our president may be a moron, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let any more jackasses sully the reputation of hard working Americans who are willing to work just as hard as anyone else with or without competition. If you can't cut it, then the people with money will pay it to someone else who can. Maybe if all you people bitching weren't such lazy, pathetic, blood sucking leeches, you'd get off of your dead ass and work HARDER to do a better job. Get some balls people. If you're too chicken shit and you can't cut it, then maybe it's you who doesn't deserve to live in America. Not the immigrants.

[KJK]

As some of you have already said, this is an individual store issue. The company 100% accepts diversity as one of it's principles--and this manager would be gone if he/she was enforcing such a policy.

[deusx]

Yes they could Lou, but the GOVERNMENT couldn't. It is a privately owned company with PUBLICLY traded shares. The owners are private citizens.

[deusx]

I just found a fantastic article on this subject. She clearly expresses the issues surrounding our discussion.

http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/DB/issues/99/05.21/view.silver.html

First of all, these two men weren't "learning english" the article said they were both college educated, one with a masters so they knew their english just fine.

I am so tired of people saying they were denied promotions because they spoke spanish or said 'eh?' too much.

You were probably denied the promotion because you suck at life. I am a woman and I get paid less than most men in america, but I deal with it.

So stop using your differences to create barriers between people. This just makes people think that starbucks is against hispanic people now which is just b.s. Stop complaining and do your freaking work and you will get promoted.

[k]

"Schultzie could, however, still wake up tomorrow and change your dress code as you described. As a public company, the Board of Directors could then remove him if they wished."

Howard Schultz is not the CEO anymore. Jim Donald is.

Also, I would bet money on the theory that it's not just because they were speaking Spanish on shift. I will emphasize that it's my theory; I wasn't there in that store so I really can't be sure what happened.

Herein lies the problem with so many of these message boards, blogs, and journal sites. Too many people will take some information which is probably not the whole story, and base their entire opinion on it and run around telling friends, family etc. and blow the story out of proportion.

I'm all for being informed about the companies one spends their hard earned money at. The one favor I would ask of anyone, however, is find out the full story prior to crucifying or absolving people/companies.

[Boston Starbucks Rebel]

Well I find this all very interesting. First of all I want to know if those baristas who were speaking Elvish, were they speaking the Sindarin or Quenya dialects. Also, I know my customers would not mind seeing me dressed only in a thong although I think for me, white would be better. I am sure all of our tips would go up! I could just bend over the counter a little bit more!

If you need to speak spanish while working in order to help a customer than you should, however, I feel it's disrespectful for spanish speaking employees to exclude non-speaking employees by purposefully speaking spanish. I recall a visit to a local burger king where the only white, non spanish speaking person working there was a teenage boy. Everyone, including the manager was speaking spanish. How awful he must have felt!

[Lou Sussler]

Deusx,

Nobody suggested that the government could or could not impose a dress code on Starbucks employees until you brought it up in your last post.

Now, look up the definition of a private (or close) company versus a public company. Please look it up before responding to this post.

Yes, Starbucks is owned by private citizens but also by corporations. Some of the largest shareholders of Starbucks are not individuals at all but rather, corporate investors. Every shareholder is an owner. Not every owner is an individual or a citizen.

Schultzie is an owner only as he is a shareholder. I am an owner as I am a shareholder. You too.

Therefore, Starbucks does not fit the definition of a private company which is one whose shares are not publically traded.

[Nome Gusta]

I think the baristas were using the Quenya dialect, but what's really weird was the dude sweeping up and collecting trash was muttering to himself in the Black Speech. Now that's just wrong.

[Consumatron]

I think I'm going to begin speaking Esperanto at my job.

"Would vi simila an extra shot de espresso kun tio Venti Latte?"

[Deanne]

Working in a city in a state populated mostly by other races or ethnic backgrounds, if our store did not have someone fluent in spanish, chinese or japanese then we would lose more than half of our customers.

[Drinker]

It's true they might know English fine, but it's not true they automatically know English because they have college degrees. The article did not say in which countries either worker got his college degree.

[Boston Starbucks Rebel]

We are all forgetting an important fact here people. Remember Starbucks has its own language like a small is called tall, medium is grande and large is venti. Therefore, I find it not that surprising that they would not have been allowed to speak Spanish on the job. I would be highly disturbed if a barista was speaking Quenya and the Dark Tongue because that could only mean he was a Nazgul! They alone know both languages. I would have to use the Force to throw him against the wall and take out my Wizard's staff and vanquish him by using the Book of Shadows!

just a thought...

have you ever noticed that when two people are using sign lanuage and one can speak, that they chose to speak their signing when others who can hear are around?

just so they can be included in the conversation.

i think it's not about immigration, or that the lanuage could be offensive, or whether they're speaking about someone secretly.

i think it's about creating an environment that could exclude others, if they didn't have the code (in this case spanish), which would fall under the anti-harassment policy.

if you don't want it heard by the whole store (or understood in this case) than don't say it on the floor....right? that's what we teach in 1st impressions, and all classes that follow.. so i think while maybe insenstive, the manager may have been in the right.

dunno though.

[Name withheld to protect the guilty]

"I don't think it has anything to do with race or national origin -- the story is just too vague to really put any sort of sense to it."

Possibly. But I'm willing to bet that if it had been two non-Latino white guys speaking Italian, they never would have been punished; if they had, the comments here would likely be chock full of defenders, very few against. The only complaints about professor accents I've ever heard in college were about Indians, never Europeans, even when the Indians were more understandable than, say, my Russian chemistry TA. 'Course, that's just my experience, not a proven trend...

[whatever, dude]

Here around Portland, Oregon, there's a lot of illegal Mexican citizens who illegally obtained an Oregon driver's license (it's a long story ... do a Google search for "Robleto DMV" if you care to see what I'm talking about) so they could get on welfare and stuff ... they come wandering into my place of work with a blank look and mutter, "Speaka Spanish?" and I just want to PUKE. It's the northern United States. At least learn some English and consider becoming a legal immigrant if you're going to come leech in our country.

"Ahh ignorance. It IS a private company. And yes, Christopher, barring a certain small amount govt restrictions they can run their shit as they see fit. Our CEO could wake up tomorrow and decide his new vision is that we all wear purple thongs, orange bicycle shorts, lime green tank tops and rainbow suspenders and that my friend would be the new dress code."

"Yes they could Lou, but the GOVERNMENT couldn't. It is a privately owned company with PUBLICLY traded shares. The owners are private citizens."

I can't believe you speak with such certainty when you don't even know the difference between what is a PUBLIC and PRIVATE company. Here is the definition in plain and simple english: A PUBLIC company is a company in which shares of the company is traded on the public market where any Joe can purchase as little or as much as he would like. A PRIVATE company on the other hand does not have shares on the market that anyone can just buy. Get it?

Just for giggles, Starbucks Corporation's ticker symbol is: SBUX and is worth 35.35 per share as of this minute.

[CuteBarista!]

"Just for giggles, Starbucks Corporation's ticker symbol is: SBUX and is worth 35.35 per share as of this minute."

*gleefully watches Bean Stock gain value*

and btw, speaking Klingon at sbux is FUCKING AWESOME.

[RoomForCream]

Boston Rebel, your comments made my day.

It speaks to our collective insecurity that when others communicate in our presence in ways we cannot understand, we always assume we're being ridiculed or otherwise taken advantage of. Maybe they were just talking sports?

Lighten up, it's just coffee.

[Lucky H]

Non-issue.

Talk to the customer in whatever language gets you the sale, then put up this sign in the back:

TO ENSURE CONSISTENT WORKPLACE SAFETY, ALL ON THE JOB COMMUNICATION BETWEEN EMPLOYEES MUST BE IN WRITTEN OR SPOKEN ENGLISH.

I've seen it in workplaces in the Southwest, I know it's been taken to court, and the courts have told plaintiffs to GTFOI or quit.

[Boston Starbucks Rebel]

Sometimes I transliterate peoples names into Greek on their cups which the customers think is really cool.

[jesus h CHRIST]

The thing I'm taking serious umbrage with in these comments right now is the assumtion that because they were speaking Spanish they're most likely illegals ciphoning off your prejudiced taxpaying asses.

SORRY but it's very likely that the people working at a Starbucks in Santa Fe are in fact, fourth plus generation New Mexicans who are working to pay for property taxes to keep their old family house. Taxes which were raised to the roof by rich people buying up housing. Meaning NEW MEXICO AS IN A TAX PAYING STATE YOU MORONS. As someone stated earlier. A majority of the people living (and paying TAXES) in this state are a combination of native american and Spanish explorer probably some central american tribe in there somewhere - all generally referred to as Hispanic here. These people have families going back three hundred years or more sometimes. Albuquerque is about to have its tricentenial this year. For the math-impaired that means that it was founded in 1706. That's before the freaking American Revolution. That's how old some of these families have lived in this area - likely before a lot your ancestors crossed the pond. These families still speak Spanish at home and it was likely that they were speaking it in the storage room or quickly telling a worker what to do because that was the quickest way to get an order across. And it's always helpful to have someone who speaks Spanish on staff. But I agree that story was entirely too vague to intimate much about what actually happened.

But please for the love of whatever God you believe in, PLEASE stop this "We live in Amurka they need to speak Amurkan" shit and assuming that just because people speak a certain language that they're illegals siphoning off the system.

As far as I'm concerned Starbucks can make whatever policies they want about what languages to speak on the job. At this point I don't even care. Although I do have to say that a lack of embracing local multiculturalism really goes against the whole Fair Trade happy white yuppie people donating an entire nickel from a two dollar bottle of water to help third world children bullshit upon which Starbucks built its fortune.

As far as "respect and dignity" goes (as it says in our mission statement), is it really respectful to leave someone out of a converation? As a third party, the customer (or partner) would be left out. This is not creating a third place. This is not providing legendary service.

[Robert]

I think that if you are in america you need to speak engilsh. period. regardless of if you are talking to a customer or not, the customer can learn english or they can go back to mexico.

[bryan]

Starbucks' stock ticker is SBUX which is under Nasdaq? Nasdaq is Technology stocks. I do not think coffee is any kind of technology at all.

RE: Starbucks doesn't allow employees to speak spanish.

No such thing. English is the first language that should be spoken when speaking to customers/clients/clientele, etc... especially in the United States.

The official language of the United States is ENGLISH(not as some idiots think: Spanish!).

One more thing: I'm so pissed off at all these ads in the New York subway system, most of them them in spanish, when they have people of other heritages also. That's so unfair for others who don't speak spanish. The baseball thing from March 2 to March 20: All the damn ads are in Spanish only (but they have all these other international flags? the only one speaking English on the American team is Derek Jeter, the others are Spanish speaking a-holes.)

I'm Chinese. I've learnt Korean, Japanese, Greek, Latin, French, Norwegian, etc... plus little Spanish.

They say there's many Spanish speakers in the US. That stat is bull. There's plenty more English speaking people in the US, especially New York City!

Many people are learning my language, Chinese, instead of spanish.

[Sylver]

I HAVE NEVER IN MY LIFE, SEEN/READ SO MUCH BULL/INGNORANCE POSTED ON/IN THIS FORUM! FROM CALLING PEOPLE, THAT YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW, "SPANISH SPEAKING A-HOLES" MY GOD MAN, YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW THIS PERSON! WHAT HE/SHE IS ABOUT? WHO HE/SHE IS? TO, "GTFOI AND QUIT/LEAVE!".. BUT OF COURSE, IT'S SO EASY TO CALL PEOPLE NAMES. HONESTLY ALSO, SOME OF YOU CAN TELL ME, THAT WHEN YOUR BOSS TOLD YOU TO, DIG A DITCH, AND THERE IS MAYBE (3)ANGLOS, AND (2)SO-CALLED MEXICANS, OUT OF THOSE (5) PEOPLE, WHO IS GOING TO DIG THE DITCH?? THAT'S RIGHT, THE (2) MEXICANS! WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IS THAT, WHEN THESE HIGH AND MIGHTY AMERICANS GO BEFORE GOD, AND EXPLAIN TO GOD, WHY THEY DID THE THINGS THEY DID? AND WHY THEY WERE THE WAY THEY WERE(HATEFUL AND DESPITEFUL?) I REALLY LIKE THIS CAPTION I READ SOMEWHERE, "PREJUDICE IS THE CHILD OF IGNORANCE!" I NEVER HAVE FORGOTTEN IT! THAT SAY'S IT ALL! GOODBYE AND GOOD LUCK. I FORGIVE YOU THOUGH, BUT NOW, IT'S UP TO GOD! BYE!! : )

[Theolaxor]

if you live in a predominantly english-speaking country then you shoud have the courtesy to predominantly speak english