California Court Deems Law Requiring Women on Company Boards Unconstitutional

California’s statute requiring publicly-owned corporations to have women on their boards of directors was deemed unconstitutional by a state court judge, throwing another setback to the state’s efforts to diversify corporate leadership, Reuters reported.

According to a copy of the verdict, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis ruled in favor of three California taxpayers who wanted to stop the law’s execution.

The plaintiffs in this lawsuit were represented by Judicial Watch, a conservative legal organization that recently defeated a California bill mandating board diversity based on race and sexual orientation.

The California secretary of state’s office says it is evaluating the decision.

Three taxpayers challenged the decision in 2019, claiming it was sexist and violated the state constitution.

At trial, California’s secretary of state argued that the state had a compelling interest in gender diversity on boards and that the statute was crafted to address a long-standing paucity of women on boards.

The measure, according to Duffy-Lewis, violates California’s constitution’s equal protection guarantee. She noted that the secretary of state had failed to demonstrate that the statute was narrowly designed or that it was intended to address “particular, willful, intentional, and unconstitutional discrimination.”

The law, which was passed in 2018, mandated publicly traded corporations in California to have up to three female directors and empowered the secretary of state to levy fines of up to $300,000 per infringement. There have been no penalties imposed.

Hannah-Beth Jackson, the bill’s creator and former California state senator expects the state will appeal the decision and win.

Judicial Watch recently won another taxpayer challenge to a similar California law requiring directors to self-identify as members of a “underrepresented community,” which includes Asian, Black, Latino, Native American, and Pacific Islander people, as well as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.