“We just don’t want other people to go through the same,” said Marina Gómez, 58, one of the fired workers in an article featured in the July 17 Salt Lake Tribune. Gómez had worked for Weider Nutrition Group in Salt Lake City for seven years before she was fired.

The company claims they had to administer the English proficiency test because it is under increased scrutiny from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Weider is a manufacturer of “nutritional supplements” such as Tiger’s Milk Bars.

A Weider official told the Tribune that the company needs employees who can read English-language job and machine instruction manuals in order to put out its products.

The fired workers said that they had read the manuals, operated the machinery, and done their jobs for many years without any complaints.

María del Valle, who for seven years wrapped plastic around bottles and packed the products, said that she and the other fired workers performed their jobs well.

“It is something that an English proficiency test can’t measure,” she told the Utah daily.

While the company claims the test was given to all employees in the manufacturing, shipping, and warehouse departments, Elitharp would not confirm that the temporary employees hired to replace the fired workers were also required to take the test. “They have taken a test,” Elitharp told the Tribune, refusing to elaborate. He also told the daily paper that none of the salaried employees in purchasing, finance, and planning were asked to undergo such a test.

The workers reported that they were told only those who could not speak English were tested, and that all were Latinos.

Officials from the Labor Commission reviewing the firings said the state office has seen an increase in complaints in the last two months from workers in Utah who were forced by their employers to undergo English proficiency tests.  
 
 
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