The law suffers the same fate as the California board diversity law requiring directors from “underrepresented communities.”

On May 13, 2022, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis issued a ruling in Crest v. Padilla I finding that California Corporations Code Section 301.3 (SB 826), which requires publicly listed corporations in California to have women on their boards, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the California Constitution. The decision comes less than two months after Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Terry A. Green similarly ruled in Crest v. Padilla II that the California Equal Protection Clause rendered unconstitutional a law requiring California publicly listed corporations to have board members from “underrepresented communities.”