Mercy Prado worked for L. Luria & Son Inc., a Florida-based general merchandise retail chain. She worked as the customer service manager at Luria's Coral Gables store. The store had a policy for workers of not speaking Spanish on the job unless a customer spoke it first. Her boss prohibited all employees from speaking Spanish before the store opened and even on breaks.
Ms. Prado contends that she was so humiliated by her boss's chants of "English, English, English" that she quit. Luria's defends that the store manager in question did not speak any Spanish. The store contends that Prado quit because she did not like the long hours and the pressure. Ms. Prado does not deny that job-related stress existed. She stated that her boss stood outside the bathroom listening for Spanish and warned her to switch to English when she came out. Before quitting, she told her coworkers, "This is a nightmare!" Did the enforcement of the employer's English-only rule effect a constructive discharge of Ms. Prado? Decide. [See A. Davis, "English-Only Rules Spur Workers to Speak Legalese," Wall Street Journal, January 23, 1997, p. B-1]