As widely reported, on Friday, the Los Angeles Superior Court granted summary judgment to the plaintiff in Crest v. Padilla (LA Super. Ct. Case No. 20STCV37513), ruling that California’s AB 979, which required a minimum of one director from an “underrepresented community" on covered company boards by the end of 2021, and between one and three directors (depending on the size of the board) from an underrepresented community by the end of 2022, violates the state constitution’s equal protection clause. The plaintiff, Judicial Watch, one of multiple parties that challenged AB 979, is also challenging California’s board gender diversity quota law (we previously reported on here – “California Sued”) in a case that has not yet been decided.
See these publications from Fenwick, Cooley, Proskauer, and Allen Matkins; these articles from NPR, Bloomberg, CBS, Times Union, Pensions & Investments, and the WSJ; and additional resources on our Board Diversity page.