The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has decided to reopen the record for public comments on whether employers have the legal authority to specify English as the language of the workplace.

The comment period extends a Civil Rights Commission briefing held on Dec. 12, 2008 which examined the risk of businesses adopting English-only policies having national origin discrimination claims brought under current Equal Employment Opportunity Commission interpretation. The Dec. briefing presented viewpoints from some businesses arguing that the EEOC pursued cases against employers regarding their English-only policies despite a showing that the policies were promulgated in response to harassment complaints by customers and co-workers. The Civil Rights Commission is asking for feedback from the briefing, generally on how employers and employees are affected by English-only policies and the EEOC interpretation. Comments can be e-mailed to mailto:comments@usccr.gov and will be accepted until April 20, 2009.