County Asks 3 Judges to Drop English-Only Rule for Clerks

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to ask three judges in the Southeast District of the Municipal Court to rescind a hotly disputed rule requiring Latino clerks to speak only English while on the job.

The supervisors, who have no direct jurisdiction over the court, strongly criticized Judges John Bunnett, Porter deDubovay and Russell Schooling for imposing their “discriminatory practice” on court employees in March, 1984.

With what little muscle it could flex, the board voted to refuse to pay for private attorneys hired by the judges to defend their rule, the legality of which has been challenged by several Latino employees.

Supervisor Ed Edelman, who brought the motion, called the English-only rule “a drastic action and an extreme course to take” to solve personnel problems at the courthouse in heavily Latino Huntington Park.

The judges said they issued the rule in response to complaints by an English-speaking employee who feared that colleagues were gossiping about her in Spanish.

Greg Petersen, an attorney for the judges, said the rule was an attempt to require good “manners, common courtesy from one employee to another.”

But, instead, the rule has pitted English-speaking workers against those who are bilingual and are now permitted to speak Spanish only when serving as court interpreters, county officials said. Latino workers, backed by county officials, contend that the judges’ rule is discriminatory.

Two lawsuits have already been filed in the dispute, and at least two more are expected.

The judges have filed a suit to prevent the county Civil Service Commission from hearing arguments in a discrimination case filed by a union representing workers. Attorneys for the judges said they also will sue the county over Tuesday’s decision not to pay their legal fees. Meanwhile, one Latino clerk has filed a civil suit against the judges. The courthouse workers’ union plans to file another suit, claiming discrimination, on behalf of several Latino clerks.

The judges owe more than $5,000 to their lawyers so far, the lawyers said.

The county customarily pays legal fees for judges sued as a result of personnel disputes.

Weeks of Negotiation

The board voted to deny payment in this case after weeks of negotiations in which the county Human Relations Commission and individual supervisors tried to persuade the judges to drop their rule.

Petersen said the judges and the county had been “very very close to a compromise” involving court guidelines that would have encouraged the use of English but would not have required it in all circumstances.

Petersen and county officials said the compromise was scuttled last month, however, when attorney Gloria Allred filed the first of the suits, on behalf of a Latino clerk.

Discrimination Alleged

That suit alleges that the judges discriminated against Alva Gutierrez, 29, a court clerk who was hired as a Spanish interpreter. Gutierrez and other clerks had complained to their union and to the Civil Service Commission about the English-only rule.

Gutierrez, who spoke before the board, said that resulting divisiveness in the courthouse “has caused me mental stress and strain.” She has been on stress-related medical leave from her job since February, Allred said.

County officials said that about 75% of the court’s business is transacted in Spanish in the largely Latino area. Many of the Latino clerks affected by the rule were hired as interpreters and typically talked among themselves in Spanish.

Last spring, Edelman said, a court clerk who speaks only English said she believed that Latino clerks were talking about her in Spanish. Edelman said the judges failed to mediate the problem and instead issued the English-only rule.

In the judges’ lawsuit involving the Civil Service Commission, the magistrates won at least a temporary victory.

The 2nd District Court of Appeal issued a stay last Friday, temporarily prohibiting the Civil Service Commission from reviewing the case, said Richard Katzman, another attorney representing the judges. A hearing on whether the commission has jurisdiction in the matter is set for April 26 in Los Angeles Superior Court.

“The judges represent a co-equal branch of government, and they are protecting that equality,” Katzman said. “The Civil Service Commission has no jurisdiction.”