What’s your Position on Famous Philly Cheesesteak Joint “English only” sign wasn't’t breaking the law?

Question

It's a win for Joey Vento of Geno's Steaks as the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations rules that the now famous sign at Geno's does not violate the city's fair practices ordinance.

Back in 2006, the commision had filed a discrimination complaint against Geno's over the now-famous sign which reads "This is America. When ordering please speak English."

However, in its decision, the commission stated that there was insufficient evidence presented to show that the sign violated the city's fair practices ordinance.

Shannon Goessling is executive director of the Southeastern Legal Foundation, which took up the case for Vento:

"As you can well imagine, we are extremely pleased with their ruling, which ruled that Mr. Vento did not violate anybody's rights and did not discriminate against anyone. The question of the day, however, has to be 'has the commission violated our client's rights by pursuing him so aggressively for the last two years?'"

Goessling says they will now spend the next few days reviewing the order of the commission and see where they go from here.

Answer 1

Common sense strikes at last!

Answer 2

OMG !

yes they should

I am so happy with that outcome!

I wish they had those signs everywhere

Answer 3

Yes that is our language and if you want service and to be understood use english. I see  nothing wrong with a business asking people to use english it would be impossible for business owners to have enough employees to speak every language spoken here.

Answer 4

This is a win for the good guys!!

Answer 5

My wife is from Venezuela, her english is a little rough sometimes but she knows this is America and she does not expect people to understand her spanish....

She agrees with the sign and is troubled by latinos that have been in the USA many years and speak no English....she thinks it is very disrespectful!

No sign is required, on a recent trip to Venezuela and Peru, I found that when I spoke english in inappropriate company I was simply ignored....this what we should do in this country....ignore residents who are trying to communicate in spanish unless it is a life or death situation.

Answer 6

What would happen if someone ordered in a different language?  Do they get kicked out?

To your second question "Should more companies put "English Only?" signs"  how long is it going to be until they start putting "No Spanish allowed" to "No Hispanics or Chinese" It might go overboard.

Answer 7

If you're asking why is it ok for someone to post a sign saying English speaking people only, I don't see anything wrong with it. People need to learn English, because this is our country, not Mexico's.  

Answer 8

I think the sign was rude... but not nessicarily incorrect.  Many businesses advertise "Hablar Espanol" so people know there are people there to communicate with them.  If the sign had simply said "No Hablar Espanol" or just "English Only, please"... people would get the point that there was no one there to translate for them.

I think the whole "this is america" thing is a bit offensive and rude.  Learning more than one language is HARD, and of all the languages - English is on the top for being the most difficult.  I think too many americans dont get that - because we are one of the few countries where our children dont know more than one language.  

Answer 9

That might not be violating whatever, but is jingoism, ridiculous and absurd

You may put up even signs that say: "German only " if it pleases you. Personally I would go NOT there.

There might be something in my person that they don't like and tell me to get out because I am old, fat, wrinkled, or whatever they say, like "no bald people" or "only people with hair on the top of the head", or "thin people only" , "fat people only".

You should specify "correct english only" no yank dialect

Besides, that goes against the idea of allowing the customer to feel at ease

Answer 10

I think we need many more signs like that.