Chinese, Thai students sue California massage council for discrimination over English skills

Qian Zhang spent US$6,000 and completed more than 500 hours of training to be certified as a massage practitioner, a job that made her hopeful for the future.

However, after failing an informal phone interview with the Sacramento-based California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC), she was denied certification. Zhang, alongside five other Asian students, say they were rejected because of their English language skills.

The Asian-American Advancing Justice Southern California, who is representing the six students, alleges CAMTC refused to give certification citing concerns about English proficiency. Concerns were allegedly first expressed after a group of Chinese students were speaking their native language in class.

“The school did not mention anything about English having to be the mother language for a student,” Zhang said. “They did not mention that requirement. Then, after finishing the study, I was told [by] the school that I had a problem.”

While certification from CAMTC is not required to practice massage therapy in California, many municipalities require practitioners to hold one. The lawsuit alleges this has resulted in CAMTC being a “gatekeeper to a career in massage therapy”.