[Judicial Watch] (Washington, DC) Judicial Watch announced today that a California court has found California’s gender quota law for corporate boards unconstitutional. The verdict comes after a 28-day trial (Robin Crest et al. v. Alex Padilla (Case No. 19STCV27561)). The verdict follows a similar ruling in Judicial Watch’s favor last month finding California’s diversity mandate for corporate boards unconstitutional.
Judicial Watch filed the gender quota lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court in 2019, on behalf of California taxpayers, Robin Crest, Earl De Vries and Judy De Vries. The lawsuit challenges a 2018 law, known as Senate Bill 826, which requires every publicly held corporation headquartered in California to have at least one director "who self-identifies her gender as a woman" on its board of directors by December 31, 2019. The law also requires corporations to have up to three such persons on their boards by December 31, 2021, depending on the size of the board. Judicial Watch argued that the quota for women on corporate boards violates the Equal Protection Clause of the California Constitution. |