This was carried just a bit to far by the Cabbie
Sept. 17, 2002, 11:55AM
'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.
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