Common courtesy is the universal language of all human relations

Mix anger with persistence and you come up with Rebecca Mughetti. For seven years, the fountain worker at the Mandalay Bay's Turf Deli has complained her workplace is a hostile work environment and she's being discriminated against.

No, her co-workers aren't sexually harassing her.

They're refusing to speak English in her presence.

She complained to Mandalay Bay, the Culinary Union, the ACLU and the Nevada Equal Rights Commission, saying she's being discriminated against based on national origin.

In July, after her first rejection by the Nevada Equal Rights Commission, the $12-an-hour worker paid $1,100 to run an ad in the Review-Journal asking others who are upset about this to contact Nevada Division of Employment Training and Rehabilitation Director Larry Mosley if they have similar situations. The state office would not say how many people contacted it based on her ad.

The Equal Rights Commission by law cannot comment on Mughetti's complaint unless they file a formal complaint, but on Tuesday, after first rejecting her complaint, the commission agreed to ask Mandalay Bay officials about Mughetti's allegations, as part of a fact-finding process.

She's been bringing it to Mandalay Bay's attention since 2001. "Mandalay Bay was in no way concerned with accommodating me," Mughetti told me just before her meeting with the state committee.

When she first complained, a human resources official wrote her saying: "There are laws that prohibit any company to enforce English Only rules or to mandate that all employees speak English while at work."

Mughetti, 52, is from Georgia and moved to Las Vegas in 1999. She has worked for Mandalay Bay for eight years, under both the current and the previous management. "I'm the only English-speaking worker in my work-place," she said. She works the front counter. The other workers on her shift speak Spanish or a Filipino dialect.

She feels alienated and at a disadvantage having people speak another language in front of her. When she doesn't know what they are saying, she says, "they can discredit you and they can avoid doing work. They have the freedom to discuss anything they want to discuss, no matter how inappropriate."

She also believes it's a safety issue. Another disadvantage: They can say something rude about a customer and it's not grounds for discipline because the customer doesn't know what's being said.

She asked her co-workers to speak English when she is present.

"They choose not to," she said. "They will tell you to your face they don't care, with a condescending, arrogant look of indifference."

Mughetti said there's a backlash to her complaints. "I'm a white, English-speaking American and the company's targeted me as a racist." But she said she is not a racist and is not discriminating against other cultures. "If you kiss a snake and cut up a chicken when you pray, I don't care."

The blond, blue-eyed woman with the Georgia drawl said she has no problem if two people speak another language together, she just asks that they use English when she's present.

Does she worry about retaliation? "I'm more offended, more determined, more pissed off than scared," she said.

I don't know how successful she will be in her endeavors, but Mughetti is bulldog material, hard charging and unyielding combined with Southern courtesy. "I'm not going away, and this problem is not going away," she said.

MGM Mirage, Mandalay Bay's parent company, is particularly proud of its diversity programs. "Our commitment to diversity is unparalleled," said Gordon Absher, vice president of public affairs. "Employees are required to speak English with customers, but we can't mandate that they speak only English," he said, reiterating what Mughetti was told in 2001.

Really, isn't this a question of good manners?

I have friends who speak other languages. When I join them, they switch to English, fully aware it's the polite and considerate thing to do. And if they didn't, yes, it would make me uncomfortable to be excluded in a social setting or in the workplace.

I'm a big believer in treating all people with dignity and respect. We wouldn't need agencies like the Nevada Equal Rights Commission if we followed the Golden Rule and listened to Miss Manners.

But we don't.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0275.