Judge Terry Green of the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles County granted a summary judgment in favor of a lawsuit challenging the law as unconstitutional, according to a decision issued Friday.
The law, enacted in 2020, required the boards of publicly traded companies based in the state to have at least one racially, ethnically or otherwise diverse director by 2021.
A lawsuit backed by Judicial Watch, a conservative foundation, said the law violated the equal protection clause of the state’s constitution.
The board diversity quota was the first of its kind in the U.S. and followed a similar California measure enacted in 2018 that mandated female directors on all boards of the state’s public companies. That measure is also facing legal challenges in state and federal courts.
Under the board diversity law, individuals who identify as Black, African-American, Hispanic, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Native Hawaiian or Alaska Native, or who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, would be considered eligible for meeting the requirement.