English-Only Practice Barred

July 31, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A federal judge has signed a consent decree against an employer who allegedly refused to allow workers to speak Spanish on the job.

US District Judge Joan B. Gottschall for the Northern the District of Illinois signed the $240,000 consent decree, resolving an employment discrimination lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on behalf of six employees who worked at the Regis Hair Stylist Salon in North Riverside Park Mall near Chicago.

Two of the six plaintiffs intervened in the EEOC lawsuit and were represented by the Legal Assistance Foundation of  Metropolitan Chicago, according to the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.

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According to the lawsuit, Hispanics were harassed and fired because of their national origin, assigned janitorial duties and forbidden to speak Spanish.

The “speak English only” policy was also enforced when Hispanic stylists were serving Spanish-speaking clients, the EEOC alleged.

The consent decree requires all Illinois salons of Minneapolis-based Regis to:

  • distribute a national origin discrimination policy in both English and Spanish to all employees
  • to train managers on avoiding discrimination and
  • to create a training video for employees on their right to be free from discrimination.

The case is EEOC et al. v. Regis Corp., No. 99 C 8270.

Equity Swoon Strikes ETFs in June

July 30, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Assets of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) decreased by nearly $4 billion in June, but international ETFs managed to gain ground.

An ETF is similar to a mutual fund, but trades like a single stock. Like a mutual fund, an ETF is a basket of stocks, most typically reflecting a particular index, specific market or geographic sectors.

Assets of domestic ETFs decreased by $3.95 billion, while assets of international ETFs increased by $94 million, according to the Investment Company Institute (ICI). 

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Broad-based ETF offerings declined by more than 4%, but domestic sector/industry ETFs shrank by more than 9.6%.  However, sector/industry ETFs comprise only about 10% of the total exchange-traded funds.

Gross issuance of ETFs was down about a third from the $12.7 million issued in May, while gross redemptions were somewhat higher.  On a net/net basis, the value of shares issued exceeded that of shares redeemed by $3.98 billion in June.

Sixty-eight ETFs tracked domestic stock indexes in June and held assets of $81.69 billion. Among the domestic ETFs, 35 used broad-based indexes and 33 ETFs targeted sector or industry indexes.

Statistics contained in the Institute’s monthly ETF report have been obtained from information provided to ICI by exchange-traded funds. Trust-issued receipts, such as Holding Company Depository Receipts (HOLDRS), are not included in the report because registered investment companies do not issue them.

Read more about Exchange Traded Funds

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