Owner of Leon's bans employees from speaking Spanish, says "We can't be the United Nations."

MILWAUKEE — The owner of Leon's Frozen Custard said he has a policy that bans employees from speaking to customers in Spanish, but according to a report from WISN 12, the policy is strictly business.

The practice is legal — The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission permits employers to adopt English-only rules, but only for nondiscriminatory reasons.

"I'm trying not to encourage it because this is going to be a problem down the road," Owner Ron Schneider told WISN "We can't be the United Nations. They got translators. We don't."

But some of the customers feel the practice is unfair.

Customer Joey Sanchez discovered the "English-only" policy on Tuesday when they overheard an employee tell the person ahead of them in line that they could not speak in Spanish. When he went to order next, he was told the same thing, according to a FOX 6 report.

Sanchez said he was frustrated by the policy, because he knows a lot of Spanish-speaking customers who frequent Leon's and that the popular custard shop has benefitted from the surrounding Latin community's business.

Schneider was reportedly adamant when he told WISN 12 that his shop's policy is fair and square.

"Let me tell you something. My wife is Hispanic. My children are Hispanic. Anyone that wants to call me racist on that basis, maybe we should settle it the old-fashioned American way in the alley," he said.

The iconic custard shop has been a fixture on Milwaukee's south side since the early 1940s. In fact, Harry Connick, Jr. stopped by just this week.

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