Responding to criticism about a new rule barring Spanish in the workplace, Atticus Bookstore and Café apologized for news reports but not for the policy.
Atticus owner Charles Negaro issued a statement Thursday on the café‘s website in response to recent media reports about a new rule for staff.
In a memo sent out on Nov. 17, Atticus directed employees to stop speaking Spanish behind the counter in front of customers.
“Here, we speak English,” the memo reads. “Effective immediately, Spanish is allowed in the prep area, the dishwasher area and the lower level. Let’s make our customers feel welcome and comfortable.”
Negaro said news reports gave “mistaken impressions” of the rule. “If these news reports have offended anyone, I am sorry,” he wrote.
“We encourage the use of English because it’s an appropriate way to be most helpful to our customers,” Negaro wrote. “To continue to provide the best service possible, we try to help those employees who speak English as a second language by helping them improve their use of English.” He said Atticus offers staff free English language classes, too.
Given the recent criticism and media attention, Atticus is “reviewing our policy of appropriate language usage to determine how we can avoid misinterpretations of this kind in the future,” Negaro wrote.