The Tucson based law firm of Munger & Chadwick is representing a Pima Community College nursing student who was suspended merely for asking that students speak English in her classroom and during student projects. Terri Bennett asked school administrators to make sure students speak English in the class so she could learn.
After making this request, Bennett received a nine-month suspension.
According to the law firm, their client’s Constitutional and other rights were violated. The Arizona Constitution, Article 28, guarantees that English is the official language of the state. Bennett has the right to be taught environment not hostile to the English-language. PCC must “preserve protect and enhance the role of the language of the English language,” and PCC may not “discriminate” or “penalize” a person for using English.
Bennett’s right to free speech was also violated. They argue that she is entitled to speak her mind on this issue and not be suspended from her studies. They say that Bennett was also defamed and put in a false light when PCC officials called her a big a “bigot” and a “racist.” She was traumatized and harassed because PCC evicted her from the campus without notice and under threat of police escort.
Attorneys say that her contract with PCC was breached when PCC refused to teach her after she had paid PCC to be taught.
Ms. Bennett reached out to a Virginia based group, ProEnglish, for assistance in May. ProEnglish contacted the Arizona law firm of Munger & Chadwick to represent Ms. Bennett. On July 8, 2013, the school was served with a complaint from Ms. Bennett through her attorneys, seeking administrative review.
On Monday, July 15, a complaint seeking monetary damages against the school was filed in state court. The state Attorney General Tom Horne was also formally notified about Ms. Bennett’s case as the school is in violation of Arizona’s official English amendment.
ProEnglish Executive Director Robert Vandervoort said, “For simply seeking a classroom environment where she can learn in English, Terri was harshly treated by the PCC administration, viciously insulted, and punished with a nine-month suspension. This school should be known as “Politically Correct College,” Vandervoort continued.
According to various reports, the ProEnglish organization was founded by the highly controversial white nationalist John Tanton.