I've had bosses like that, who try to 'change' a culture and crack the whip. It isn't being a hardass, it is the complete lack of respect he is showing his employees in doing so. It isn't racism on his part, just ignorance and just not knowing how to relate to a group of people.
Oh, messing with culture is usually dumb, but I doubt it's illegal.
That said, certainly cracking the whip on corporate culture can be good in the right situation. For instance, I've known of videogame studios where there was beer in the fridge 24/7 and people smoked pot while working. On another angle of the spectrum, I've known of videogame studios that were either very sexist or just not comfortable environments for women (stuff like posters of pornography on walls, people making crude jokes routinely). In cases like these, cracking down on corporate culture seems reasonable.
On a more national culture level, If you had a worker from Spain, I'm assuming if they got work for an American employer, the employer wouldn't be required to give them time off in the afternoon for a Siesta. And if, for instance, a hotel was staffed with quite a few immigrants from Spain who had taken to having a Siesta, then yes, I would say cracking down on this culture would be perfectly appropriate.
