PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The owner of a famous cheesesteak shop did not discriminate when he posted signs asking customers to speak English, a city panel ruled Wednesday.
In a 2-1 vote, a Commission on Human Relations panel found that two signs at Geno's Steaks telling customers, "This is America: WHEN ORDERING 'PLEASE SPEAK ENGLISH,'" do not violate the city's Fair Practices Ordinance.
Shop owner Joe Vento has said he posted the signs in October 2005 because of concerns over immigration reform and an increasing number of people in the area who could not order in English.
Vento has said he never refused service to anyone because they couldn't speak English. But critics argued that the signs discourage customers of certain backgrounds from eating at the shop.
Commissioners Roxanne E. Covington and Burt Siegel voted to dismiss the complaint, finding that the sign does not communicate that business will be "refused, withheld or denied."
In a dissenting opinion, Commissioner Joseph J. Centeno said he thought the signs did discourage some customers.
"The sign appeared immediately above another sign that had the following words: 'Management Reserves the Right to Refuse Service,'" Centeno wrote.
Geno's and its chief rival across the street, Pat's King of Steaks, are two of the city's best known cheesesteak venues. A growing number of Asian and Latin American immigrants have moved into the traditionally Italian neighborhood in recent years.
Vento had threatened to go to court if he lost. His attorney, Albert G. Weiss, said he was "pleasantly surprised" by Wednesday's decision.
"We expected that this was not going to go our way," Weiss said.
In February 2007, the commission found probable cause against Geno's for discrimination, alleging that the policy discourages customers of certain backgrounds from eating there.
The case went to a public hearing, where an attorney for the commission argued that the sign was about intimidation, not political speech. The matter then went to the three-member panel for a ruling.
W. Nick Taliaferro, the commission's executive director, said he would not appeal.
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4 comments:
This guy must be from the moon.......Here in New York you hear English, Spanish, Chinese, Italian, Korean, Japanese, etc. all day and no one seems to be bothered....This old guy is from the "old school", set in his "old beliefs", who never received an education and has a closed mind...
Wake up because the "people" from the "other side" will soon be your neighbors and your family members..
The reason our Country is great is because of the different races who have input some "foreign" ideas into our every day lives..
Thanks for allowing me to make a comment.......
Thank goodness and God for competition, now even those of Us who are Native Born Hispanic Americans can choose to go to the more intelligent Business owners who cater to ALL languages. We had rather give our business to "Humankindness" anyway. Thank you for making our choices easier!
My ancestors came from Ireland and spoke Celtic. They learned to speak and write ENGLISH! No one catered to them in order to not "hurt" their feelings of their culture or linguistics.
They were hard working people who made their way in the U.S. with higher education that led to many now being employed by N.A.S.A.
And I will always say...If you come to this country to live and become a citizen...learn English.
By the way..I am also Very proud to say that I have Cherokee blood flowing with my Irish blood! So I do have a right to say how I feel.
I speak two languages. My native American tongue and English.
Learn English. And keep your heritage intact at the same time.
last anonymous,
you may have missed the point.
tourists might be intimidated by the signs.
recent immigrants, who are trying to learn English, may be intimidated by the signs.
indeed, recent immigrants who are working hard to make a living might not have as much time as your ancestors did to learn English.
I'm going to confess, I've had my "why can't they speak English properly?" moments. but I keep them to myself.
I keep them to myself, because the "learn to speak English" attitude is an exclusionary one.
and Jesus didn't exclude.
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