Altus Officials, Plaintiffs Reach Agreement On Language Policy

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Altus officials have reached an agreement with a group of Hispanic workers over the city's English-only policy.<br/><br/>Eleven municipal employees challenged the city's policy

Wednesday, October 4th 2006, 6:13 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Altus officials have reached an agreement with a group of Hispanic workers over the city's English-only policy.

Eleven municipal employees challenged the city's policy in federal court, winning a key victory at the Tenth US Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver in January.

Attorney Mark Hammons said the appeals court ruled English-only policies were harmful to minority employees.

The settlement includes a confidentiality agreement, but Hammons and an attorney for the city confirmed it would lead to a revised policy for speaking Spanish.

Altus City Attorney Catherine Coke said she thinks the new policy will allow employees to speak Spanish at work.

The lawsuit was filed in March 2003.