Atticus repeals English-only policy
Atticus repeals English-only policy
In January, Atticus Bookstore and Café on Chapel Street implemented a policy requiring employees to speak English when interacting with customers, but the policy was repealed last week. Photo by Daniel Carvalho.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Atticus Bookstore and Café on Chapel Street last week repealed an employee policy that forbade employees from using foreign languages within earshot of customers, Atticus supervisor Martin Muroz said Wednesday.
The move followed pressure from local community groups such as the New Haven Workers Association, a group of local labor leaders and activists, and city officials such as Ward 15 Alderman Joseph Rodriguez.
"We are happy now," Munoz said. "They fixed it."
Until the repeal, Atticus manager Jean Marcel Récapet, a native French speaker, had supported and enforced the policy, which was implemented in January. That month, more than a dozen protestors picketed outside the café, demanding a boycott of the eatery unless the policy was reversed.
Atticus owner Charles Negaro said in a January statement that news reports misinterpreted the policy, which he said was intended to improve customer service; Negaro added that Atticus offers free English lessons to all employees.
Comments
None 1 year, 11 months ago
Yes! I can go back to Atticus now and enjoy their wonderful sandwiches!
They know they were hurting from this policy. We were too... but the sandwiches were not good enough to sway people on this matter.
None 1 year, 11 months ago
Why can't White people have their own homeland for their culture and gene pool ?
None 1 year, 11 months ago
Disgusting. It is rude and alienating when someone speaks a foreign language in front of you. While we may not be able to do something about the average person on the street, I expect better treatment when patronizing a restaurant.
None 1 year, 11 months ago
It's nice when someone speaks a foreign language in front of you, because then it's easier to ignore. If I wanted to hear workers' conversations I'd go to Booktrader.
Also, if white people wanted to have their own homeland for their culture and gene pool, they certainly shouldn't have emigrated to America, and definitely shouldn't have brought a bunch of Africans here.
None 1 year, 11 months ago
I don't see why YDN insists on recoloring this as a racism issue. The true issues are courtesy and doing your job. Workers conducting animated personal conversations while being curt and inattentive to customers is rude no matter what language is used.
The manager has a duty to expect his workers to do their jobs. His mistake was to do it in a way that allowed YDN and other petty activists to jump onto the bandwagon for PC sensationalism. Please try raising the tone of this paper. We're meant to be among the brightest in the nation, not blind followers of PC trends and Yale press releases. YDN, being so publicly visible, has a responsibility to show that there is more to Yale students than faddishness and kowtowing to the Admin.
None 1 year, 11 months ago
Glad to see that it was repealed. Further to #4's point, America was never meant to be a replication of European homogeneity. If you don't like ethnic or lingual diversity move to Austria or China.
The real issue is xenophobia more than anything. Atticus is a Spanish-speaking majority workforce with an owner who intentionally hires Latinos, plays Hispanic music, and attracts both White and Hispanic clientele that enjoy conversing with the workforce in Spanish. In fact, many people come in specifically for the 'Latin flavor' the rest. always seemed to encourage. But rudeness should never be tolerated, no matter what.
The only "disgusting" thing here is the sheer number of non-Spanish speaking people who seemed to take such great offense to the second most spoken language in America. Get over yourselves!
None 1 year, 9 months ago
Yay! Just found this news story. Now I can stop boycotting Atticus!
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