By: Yoyo Rita
Amidst a flurry of 162 executive orders signed by President Trump since his return to office[1], it can be overwhelming to keep track of the new legal precedents being set by the current administration and their implications on our workplace investigation practice. One of Trump’s recent executive orders, with potentially broad social and legal impacts, is Executive Order 14224. Executive Order 14224, signed on March 1, 2025, designates English as the official language of the United States.
The order also simultaneously revokes Executive Order 13166 of August 11, 2000 (Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency), while stating that “nothing in this order, however, requires or directs any change in the [language access] services provided by any agency. Agency heads should make decisions as they deem necessary to fulfill their respective agencies’ mission and efficiently provide Government services to the American people.”[2] This ambiguous language leaves the door open for agency heads to determine at their discretion the level of language access they will provide for non-English speaking individuals—for example, whether or not a Spanish-speaker is entitled to an interpreter for their Social Security appointment. The potential impacts of this Order are thus broad.
So what does this mean for workplace investigators? As we’ve covered in past ILG articles, any quality workplace investigation necessitates the use of interpreters to provide full language access for LEP (Low English Proficient) and non-English speaking parties. Whether that means interpreting for a witness to an alleged case of sexual harassment, a Complainant in a high-stakes political case, or a Respondent to a retaliation allegation, it is our duty as investigators to retain trained, professional interpreters to complete investigations with LEP individuals.
It is important to note that, regardless of Executive Order 14224, there are many legal precedents that are not revoked or superseded by this new declaration of English as the official language of the US.[3] Notably, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects non-English speaking individuals’ language access rights in the court of law, and Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) still ensures access to Sign Language interpreting services for the Deaf community.
Workplace investigators can and should use these remaining legal protections as reference when advocating for those in need of special language assistance/access during investigations. Inform clients (government and otherwise) about the decades-long precedent of language access advocacy and legal protections when discussing the need for interpreters. Together in the public and private sectors, we can continue to ensure impartial, thorough, and prompt investigations with full language access for all
[1] https://www.federalregister.gov/presidential-documents/executive-orders/donald-trump/2025
[2] https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-14224-designating-english-the-official-language-the-united-states
[3] https://crla.org/articles/know-your-rights-executive-order-14224-and-language-access