Topline
A Los Angeles judge ruled unconstitutional a state law mandating public companies save a board seat for women, unraveling one of the linchpins of the state’s 2018 attempt at increasing gender equity.
California’s Bear Flag in San Francisco. The first official version of the Bear Flag was adopted by … [+]
Key Facts
Superior Court Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis ruled that the law violated the right to equal treatment Friday.
Duffy-Lewis agreed with the arguments made by conservative legal group Judicial Watch, which sued the state over the law in 2019 arguing it violated the right to equal treatment and discriminated based on sex.
The state argued the law didn’t establish a quota because there was no requirement for men to be removed to make room for women.
The state also denied the law was unconstitutional because it was reversing a culture of discrimination that favored men and put in place after failed attempts to rectify the culture.
The state attorney general’s and governor’s office did not immediately reply for comment.
Key Background
A bill requiring women to sit on California corporations’ boards was passed by the democratic legislature and signed into law in September 2018 by then Gov. Jerry Brown. Public companies with headquarters in the state were required to bring aboard one female director by the end of 2019 and companies with five-member boards were required to have two women on the board by the end of 2021. Corporations with six or more directors would need to tap three women to join the board.
Big Number
29%. That’s how many public board seats were held by women as of September, 2021, according to the gender equity focused nonprofit California Partners Project. Prior to the implementation of the law, 15.5% of board seats were held by women.
Tangent
A Los Angeles judge ruled that the California law mandating corporations add minorities and LGBTQ members to boards was unconstitutional in April. Judicial Watch was a litigant in that case also and the lawsuit mirrored the same argument; the case argued the measure violated the California Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause and challenged the legality of tapping into taxpayer funds for enforcement.
Further Reading
Landmark California law requiring women on corporate boards ruled unconstitutional (CBS News)
California’s law mandating corporate boards to diversify was ruled unconstitutional (NPR)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kaliedrago/2022/05/16/california-law-requiring-women-on-corporate-boards-ruled-unconstitutional/