Whole Foods Market Inc., a supermarket chain specializing in natural and organic foods, is coming under fire this week after several employees claim they were suspended for after complaining about one of the company's policies.

Bryan Baldizan said that he and a female employee working at a Whole Foods in Albuquerque, N.M. were unfairly suspended for a day after filing a complaint about a company policy barring employees from speaking Spanish during work hours.

"I couldn't believe it," said Baldizan, who works in the store's food preparation department. "All we did was say we didn't believe the policy was fair. We only talk Spanish to each other about personal stuff, not work."

The suspensions came after the two had written a letter stating their disagreement with the rule, which was prompted by an earlier meeting with a store supervisor. So far Whole Foods has stood behind the actions taken by the supervisor, stating that they believe in their company policy of having a uniform mode of communication.

"Therefore, our policy states that all English speaking Team Members must speak English to customers and other Team Members while on the clock," Ben Friedland, Whole Foods Market Rocky Mountain Region Executive Marketing Coordinator, said in a statement. "Team Members are free to speak any language they would like during their breaks, meal periods and before and after work."

According to Whole Foods, the rule does not have its basis in any type of discriminatory practices. The company claims the policy is in place for the comfort of both the shoppers at their stores and other employees. 

"Our main things is, we don't want people to feel like they are excluded from a conversation -- and there are safety and work quality reasons for that," Whole Foods Market spokeswoman Libba Letton said. "One of the big things is for safety reasons, we want everyone to be in the habit of speaking English on the floor, so that if something happens, if there's an emergency or something like that, then everyone's on the same page."

Though that policy makes sense, it may not be legal in the state of New Mexico. Ralph Arellanes, state director of New Mexico League of United Latin American Citizens, has said that Whole Foods is violating the state constitution, which protects Spanish and American Indian languages. Latino groups are considering meeting soon to boycott Whole Foods and companies with similar practices.