🚀 go-pugleaf

Incidents such as this make me ashamed to be an American sometimes. The
cab driver should be charged with a bios crime and his license revoked.

A_C


Chuck Hearn wrote:
> 
> "Penal Blister" <penalblister@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<zmNh9.451035$me6.51380@sccrnsc01>...
> > Sept. 17, 2002, 11:55AM
> 
> The cabbie should get a medal.
> 
> Chuck
> >
> > 'English only' lands cabbie in trouble
> > Driver faces assault charge for trying to boot Spanish speaker
> > By EDWARD HEGSTROM
> > Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle
> > The sign inside the taxi said "English Only," but Mauricio Camargo
> > figured talking on his cell phone in Spanish during his ride in from
> > Bush Intercontinental Airport Friday would be no problem.
> >
> > He was wrong.
> >
> > After Camargo answered two calls in Spanish en route to the Adams
> > Mark Hotel, the driver pulled over, took his suitcase out of the
> > trunk and tried to physically force the Colombian businessman out of
> > the back seat. Harris County Sheriff's deputies have ticketed the
> > driver, Tony Mitchell, on a charge of misdemeanor assault.
> >
> > Mitchell's English-only rule did not violate city codes, and it was
> > unclear whether it would be a violation of federal civil rights
> > legislation.
> >
> > But Camargo, who came to Houston for a business conference, said the
> > experience left him with a bad impression of the city.
> >
> > "It's completely absurd that in a city like Houston, so close to
> > Mexico, a person can't speak Spanish in a taxi," Camargo said. "If
> > the city is trying to attract business, this seems like a serious
> > disincentive."
> >
> > Mitchell could not be reached for comment. He was an independent
> > contractor driving a cab affiliated with Liberty Cab Co., though the
> > company terminated his contract after the incident, saying he had
> > tried to violate a city ordinance that forbids a cabdriver from
> > leaving a passenger along the side of the road.
> >
> > Even if Mitchell's English-only rule did not violate the law,
> > observers were quick to note that it might not have been the best
> > business practice in a city where a third of the residents speak a
> > foreign language at home.
> >
> > "In this city, there are a lot of people who speak Spanish," said
> > Daniel Romero, a driver with a competing company, Yellow Cab. "I
> > don't care what language they speak, as long as they can tell me
> > where they're going."
> >
> > Other cabbies said they worry that the incident could hurt the
> > industry as a whole.
> >
> > "This guy should not have been in the fleet," said Pete Ivanus, a
> > native of Romania who drives a cab and teaches elementary school in
> > Pasadena.
> >
> > Camargo, who lives in Washington and works for a Colombian
> > telecommunications company, said he arrived in Houston about 9:30
> > a.m. Friday to attend a conference of the National Association of
> > Colombian American Organizations at the Adams Mark. He got into a
> > cab at the airport and showed a card with the address of the hotel.
> >
> > After the cab left the airport, Camargo's cell phone rang. It was
> > his wife, a diplomat with the Colombian Embassy in Washington.
> > Camargo spoke briefly in Spanish.
> >
> > He got a second call from his boss in Bogota. While he was still
> > speaking, the cabdriver pulled over on Aldine Mail Road. The driver
> > told him to get out of the cab, but Camargo was at first
> > incredulous.
> >
> > "This is a country that respects freedoms, like the freedom to speak
> > in one's native language," he said.
> >
> > The driver popped the trunk, took out Camargo's bag and then opened
> > the car door and tried to force him out. Camargo said he wedged his
> > feet to keep himself in the car, but his jacket was ripped.
> >
> > Both the driver and the passenger then used their cell phones to
> > call police, according to Camargo. Three Harris County deputies
> > arrived, then ticketed Mitchell on the assault charge.
> >
> > The driver "was talking all kinds of crap about terrorists,"
> > according to Capt. M.H. Talton with the Harris County Sheriff's
> > Department. "He did admit that he had forced the passenger out of
> > the cab."
> >
> > Another Liberty Cab arrived to take Camargo to his hotel.
> >
> > Wini Brady, the general manager at Liberty Cab, said the company
> > regrets the incident.
> >
> > "We feel very grateful to the international travelers who use our
> > service," she said. She criticized Mitchell for trying to leave a
> > passenger along the side of the road.
> >
> > Cab companies generally hire drivers as independent contractors to
> > limit liability. This means the drivers are essentially self-
> > employed, so the company has limited ability to establish rules.
> >
> > The city has no ordinance that would prohibit taxi drivers from
> > insisting on the use of English in their cabs, according to Blanton
> > Daniels, division manager of the city of Houston's transportation
> > department.
> >
> > "It's just stupidity or prejudice, but it's really a matter for the
> > company to take up," he said.
> >
> > Federal civil rights laws prohibit employers from forcing their
> > workers to speak English on the job, and the laws also prevent a
> > hotel from refusing service to guests based on their language. But
> > it is not clear whether an English-only rule in a cab would violate
> > federal laws, according to two separate civil rights lawyers.
> >
> > The attorneys agreed that it is rare in a state like Texas to have
> > businesses turn away customers who speak Spanish. So the question
> > rarely comes up in the courts.
> >
> > "It just doesn't happen that often," said David A. Kahne, local
> > representative of the American Civil Liberties Union. "In fact, this
> > is the first time I've heard of it. Most taxi drivers want a tip.
> > They want to be nice to you."