News & Analysis as of May 20, 2025

Board of Directors

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The Equal Protection Clause is a section of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution that provides that "no state shall...deny to any citizen within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Essentially, the Equal Protection Clause provides that the government must treat an individual the same way that it treats other individuals in the same circumstances. The 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause applies only to state governments, but the requirements of the clause apply to the federal government through the Due Process Clause of the 5th Amendment. less -

Diversity in Boardrooms: Why Nasdaq Companies Still Need to Be Mindful Despite Recently Invalidated Rule

Jackson Lewis P.C. on 12/23/2024

In a 9-8 en banc decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturned a three-judge panel decision and invalidated the Nasdaq Board Diversity Rule, Rule 506, that had been approved by the Securities and...more

Potential Private Sector Implications of the Supreme Court's Affirmative Action Ruling

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP on 7/6/2023

The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in the cases Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina upended prior...more

Board Diversity Initiatives Falter in the Courts but Investor Interest Is Likely to Remain Strong

Snell & Wilmer on 6/28/2023

Last year, Superior Courts in Los Angeles County invalidated two California statutes requiring specific diversity mandates for California public company boards (Senate Bill 826 “SB 826” and Assembly Bill 979 “AB 979”). The...more

Board Diversity in the Balance: Federal Court Holds that California’s Board of Directors Diversity Requirement Violates Equal...

Maynard Nexsen on 6/22/2023

Public Company Advisory Client Alert: On May 15, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California granted summary judgment for the Alliance for Fair Board Recruitment, finding that California Assembly...more

Assembly Bill 979, California’s Board Diversity Statute, Ruled Unconstitutional

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP on 5/26/2023

On May 15, 2023, the Eastern District of California ruled that California Assembly Bill No. 979 (“AB 979”) violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment and 42 U.S.C. § 1981. As enacted,...more

California’s Board Diversity Statute – Assembly Bill 979 – Ruled Unconstitutional

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP on 5/25/2023

On May 15, 2023, a district court judge sitting in the Eastern District of California ruled that California Assembly Bill No. 979 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment and 42...more

California Court Overturns Board Gender Diversity Statute

Perkins Coie on 6/22/2022

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge struck down California’s board gender diversity statute on May 13, 2022. The court found that Senate Bill 826 violated the California Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause....more

California Board Diversity Rules: Struck-Down Statutes and Paths Forward

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP on 6/20/2022

Even as California’s courts block the state’s landmark pieces of legislation, the push for board diversity persists. Over the last four years, California has enacted two landmark pieces of legislation regarding the...more

California Courts Have Found Two Statutes Requiring Diversity in the Makeup of Public Company Boards of Directors Unconstitutional

Jackson Lewis P.C. on 6/1/2022

In April, a Los Angeles Superior Court held that Assembly Bill (AB) 979 which required publicly-held corporations headquartered in California to diversify by adding “underrepresented communities” to their board of directors,...more

California Court Strikes Down Law on Board Diversity

WilmerHale on 5/24/2022

On Friday, May 13, a California Superior Court judge struck down Senate Bill (“SB”) 826—California’s landmark gender diversity law regarding the representation of women directors on the boards of publicly held corporations...more

California Gender Board Diversity Law Is Held Unconstitutional

Latham & Watkins LLP on 5/18/2022

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...more

California Board Diversity Law Requiring Directors From “Underrepresented Communities” Is Held Unconstitutional

Latham & Watkins LLP on 4/7/2022

The California gender board diversity law may suffer the same fate. On April 1, 2022, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Terry A. Green issued a summary judgment order finding that California Corporations Code §...more

Court Strikes California’s Board Diversity Rule

Fox Rothschild LLP on 4/6/2022

A California court has struck down California’s board diversity statute, AB 979 as violating the Equal Protection Clause. California became the first state to mandate diversity on boards of directors with the passage of...more

Blog: New challenge to California board diversity laws

Cooley LLP on 7/19/2021

There’s a new case challenging both of California’s board diversity laws. The case, which was filed in a California federal district court against the California Secretary of State, Dr. Shirley Weber, seeks declaratory relief...more

9th Circuit Revives Lawsuit Challenging One Of The Board Of Directors Diversity Statutes

Jackson Lewis P.C. on 6/25/2021

All the way back in 2018, California passed Senate Bill 826 requiring publicly-held corporations with principal executive offices in California to have a certain number of females on their board of directors. Similarly, in...more

Legal Challenge To California Board Gender Quota Law Filed

Allen Matkins on 8/14/2019

As mentioned in yesterday's post, a much predicted challenge to California's board gender quota law was recently filed. The complaint alleges a single cause of action - violation of Article I, Section 31 of the California...more

New California Law Mandates Female Representation on Boards of Directors by December 2019

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 4/4/2019

On September 30, 2018, Governor Jerry Brown of California signed Senate Bill (SB) 826, a pioneering law mandating each publicly-held company headquartered in California to have at least one female on its board of directors....more

New California Law Requires Representation of Women on Public Company Boards - Steps Companies Can Take to Address SB 826

Fenwick & West LLP on 10/3/2018

Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill into law on Sept. 30 that requires publicly held companies headquartered in California to include women directors on their board of directors. SB 826 requires California-based public...more

California Becomes First State to Mandate Women on Public Company Boards

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP on 10/2/2018

Legislation requires California public companies to have at least one woman director by the end of 2019. Applies to public companies with a principal place of business in California as disclosed on Form 10-K....more

California to Require Inclusion of Female Directors at Public Corporations Based in the State

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP on 10/1/2018

California has become the first state in the nation to require that publicly held corporations headquartered within the state include female directors on their boards. The new law, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on September 30,...more

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