OQLF investigates RDP hospital after two workers speak in Creole

Two Montreal hospital workers have caught the attention of the Office qubcois de la langue franaise for speaking to each other in Creole.

The OQLF sent a warning to Hpital Rivire-des-Prairies, a psychiatric hospital with about 90 beds, after receiving a complaint.

If we receive a complaint, we have to look at it and see if there is a ground for it, said OQLF spokesman Jean-Pierre Leblanc, adding that all complaints are confidential.

If we receive information that theres no problem about the application of the [French language] charter, then it will be filed away.

Leblanc says that if the two employees were having a private conversation, then they would not be violating any language rules.

The law allowspeople to talk their own language if it's a private conversation if there's no problem with the work, he said.

Hospital officials meet with staff

Hospital officials say it's difficult for them to examine the matter, because they dont know if the complaint came from an employee, a volunteer, or a family member.

I dont think its a generalized problem, said hospital spokeswoman Johanne Gagnon.

Gagnon says hospital management has met with all its employees to remind them that they must speak French in the workplace.

Its the hospital'ssecond complaint in two years.