Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Re: Spanish Required?

An employer can hire whoever they choose -- whoever she or he feels will do the best job -- unless they discriminate against a protected class of people. This requirement is not discriminatory against any protected group, it is simply requiring a skill.

Why would this requirement be any different then any other? I personally do not speak Spanish other than a few words, and I know it holds me back in my own business, so of course it would be sensible for an employer to not want to hire me. However, it really does not matter if this requirement makes sense or not. If an employer chooses to only hire short people, or bald people, or people who wear sandals to interviews -- those are all legal requirements.

A requirement is only illegal if it is discriminatory against a protected group. Those of us whose "handicap" is not speaking a common language are not a protected group.