DELANO, Calif. » Dozens of Filipino hospital workers in Central California have won nearly $1 million to settle a lawsuit claiming they were targeted by a rule requiring them to speak only English at work.

The settlement announced on Monday involves nearly 70 nurses and medical staff who accused the Delano Regional Medical Center of banning them from speaking Tagalog and other Filipino languages while letting other workers speak in their native languages, including Spanish.

The complaint was filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2010.

Hospital workers said they were told by hospital management in 2006 to speak only English while at the hospital, even on their breaks.

The workers allege they were targets of undue discipline, harassment and threats.