A lawsuit has been filed against Erath County by former employee Veronica Cajamarca for unlawful employment practices, including being asked to sign an “English Only” agreement while employed by the Erath County Tax Office.
Cajamarca is a 2006 Dublin High School graduate who was hired inside the county’s motor vehicle office as a bilingual employee in October 2021.
She is suing the county for money damages and equitable relief over $250,000 but not exceeding $1 million, and has requested a jury trial.
County Judge Brandon Huckabee said the county has no comment on the lawsuit at this time.
The alleged incident stated in the lawsuit occurred on Feb. 7, 2023, when Tax Assessor Collector Jennifer Carey called Cajamarca into her office and said she was going to have to sign an “English Only” memo agreeing to speak only English at work. Employee Marycruz Serrano was also presented with the same note to sign and is still employed by Erath County in the tax office.
The note’s text stated: “English is to be spoken at all times while at work. English is the primary language of a majority of the employees of this office and in order to facilitate an efficient and harmonious work environment all employees shall speak only the English language except in limited circumstances. Languages other than English is only to be used when translating for a nonspeaking English customer.
Violation of this rule is grounds for termination.”
She refused to sign the document and then on Feb. 15, 2023, Cajamarca made a complaint to Human Resources based on discrimination for being told not to speak Spanish in the workplace, the lawsuit states.
“As a result of the discrimination and the memo stating that refusing to sign would result in her termination, Plaintiff [ Cajamarca] was constructively discharged on Feb. 9, 2023,” the lawsuit states.
“I want to be very clear, this is not an Erath County policy, nor is it found in our handbook; it is not a current policy used in any other County office that I am aware of at this time,” Huckabee wrote in a statement previously published in 2023. The lawsuit was originally filed on March 14, 2023, and the Notice of Right to Sue was received from the Texas Workforce Commission on Nov. 8, 2023, and then filed within 60 days of that notice.
She is suing for lost wages and benefits in the past, lost wages and benefits in the future, compensatory damages in the past and compensatory damages in the future, exemplary damages, attorney fees, expert fees, prejudgment and post judgment interest as allowed by law.
Cajamarca has said she had to move her family to west Texas because she couldn’t find a job in Erath County, forcing her to live off of unemployment and her savings to provide for her young daughter.
Cajamarca said she has applied for more than 50 jobs and completed between 15-20 interviews before she was able to secure work in November 2023.
“I feel like [the situation] back home followed me here,” she said.
Receiving unemployment from July – November, Cajamarca admits things have been difficult for her financially, including a small debt claim being filed against her in Erath County.
“I just want to be heard,” she said. “Never have I been in this situation professionally before. This motivates me to fight this. My daughter will be bilingual and I hope she will never have to go through something like this.”