Tavern Sued Over English-Only Policy

UNION GAP, Wash. —  The sign over the bar at the Old Town Pump reads, “In the U.S.A. it’s--English or adios, amigo.”

Proprietor Joyce Ostrander takes the sentiment seriously. In November, she asked three Hispanics who were playing pool, drinking beer and conversing in Spanish to start speaking English.

The three men say she also kicked them out. For that, they’re suing her, charging discrimination.

“I’m not discriminating. I thought this was an English-speaking country and I asked them to speak English,” Ostrander said.

Mike Cantu, Carlos Olivera and Enrique Mendoza filed a lawsuit alleging that Ostrander violated a state law prohibiting businesses from discriminating on the basis of race or national origin. They are seeking unspecified monetary damages and an order forcing Ostrander to drop the English-only policy.

The three men met at the tavern Nov. 9 after work at a nearby fruit-packing plant. As they shared a pitcher of beer and a plate of fries, Ostrander told them to start speaking English or leave the bar, the lawsuit alleges. Olivera doesn’t speak English, and Cantu and Mendoza are bilingual.

“These were three very decent, very hard-working Hispanics who were doing everything right, and they were kicked out of a tavern for speaking Spanish,” said their attorney, David Putney. “I have never seen anything this blatant. It’s absolutely Neanderthal in its approach to dealing with the races.”

Ostrander told the Associated Press that she did nothing more than ask the men to speak English.

“I never kicked them out or 86’d them. I didn’t refuse to serve them. I just asked them to speak English,” she said.

But in interviews with the Yakima Herald-Republic, she is quoted as saying that she did tell them to leave. She said the men were already “loud and boisterous and sounded cranky” before she approached them. When she asked them to speak English, she said, “they got very irate and jumped out of their chairs and told me they were going to sue me.”

“We have the right to refuse service to anyone,” she was quoted as saying. “This is America, where English is supposed to be the main language. We don’t want Spanish gibberish here, and we mean it.”

Many in Union Gap and neighboring Yakima, about 140 miles southeast of Seattle, agree.

“They start speaking their own language and we don’t know what they’re saying. They could be insulting us, making fun of our wives or figuring out a way to rob the place. We don’t know,” said Wes Wise as he sat on a stool sipping beer. “It’s not polite to speak so others can’t understand you.”

Ed Houser, a truck driver who stopped in recently to have lunch, said he gave Ostrander $10 toward legal fees. He said he saw another customer give her $100.

“Lots of people who don’t want to be interviewed and don’t want to be on camera support her. There are lots of people behind her,” Houser said.

Ostrander conceded that she probably would have to take down the wooden sign, which has hung in the bar since 1984. She planned to talk to her attorney first.

Liquor Control Board Chairman Mike Murphy called Ostrander after the suit was filed to warn her that she could lose her license if she doesn’t take it down, board spokesman Carter Mitchell said.

The Hispanic community--31% of the 202,000 residents of Yakima County--is outraged that the sign was put up at all.

“I’ve gotten so many calls,” said Tony Sandoval, president of an advocacy group, Washington State Council de La Raza.

“It’s opening up old wounds for a lot of our elders who faced this kind of discrimination when they were younger.”