LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles judge has ruled that California’s landmark law requiring women on corporate boards is unconstitutional. Superior Court Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis said the law that would have required boards have up to three female directors by this year violated the right to equal treatment.
Highlights
- Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis issued her ruling Friday, May 13, 2022, in Los Angeles Superior Court.
- The conservative legal group Judicial Watch had challenged the law, claiming it was illegal to use taxpayer funds to enforce a law that violates the equal protection clause of the California Constitution by mandating a gender-based quota.
- The law required publicly held companies headquartered in California to have one member who identifies as a woman on their boards of directors by the end of 2019.
- By January of 2022, boards with five directors were required to have two women or more members of their boards with three or six more members.
- The state defended the law as constitutional saying it was necessary to reverse a culture of discrimination.