Plainview Daily Herald. April 28, 1989. p.7
Five workers represented by the Plainview Texas Rural Legal Aid office collected more than $7,000 in the April 19 settlement of their law suit against the Texas Employment Commission.
Four of the workers are from Hereford and the fifth is from El Paso. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court, Brownsville.
According to TRLA attorney Stephen McIntyre, four of the workers sued after being denied unemployment benefits; the fifth sued when TEC told him he’d have to repay an overpayment.
The workers alleged that TEC violated their rights because the notices sent them involving their benefits were in English and qualified translators were not provided at the hearings.
“We are pleased the current English-only hysteria did not harm the reasonable settlement of this case,” said McIntyre, adding:
“Working folks who are forced to apply for unemployment benefits to support their families have a right to a notice and hearing they can understand.”
Stephen C. McIntyre 