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California official says women on boards law is toothless

Rich Pedroncelli/AP

FILE - Then-California Gov. Jerry Brown talks during an interview in Sacramento, Calif., on Dec. 18, 2018. When former Gov. Brown signed the nation's first law requiring that women sit on corporate boards of publicly traded companies, he suggested it might not survive legal challenges. Three years later, a judge will begin hearing evidence on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, in Los Angeles Superior Court that could undo a law that has already been credited with giving more women a seat in boardrooms. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

By: Associated Press

Posted at 7:16 PM, Dec 02, 2021

and last updated 2021-12-02 22:16:05-05

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California official says the state’s landmark law mandating women be placed on corporate boards is toothless and there are no plans to fine companies for not complying.

A chief in the Secretary of State's Office said Thursday that the law requiring publicly held corporations based in California to appoint up to three women to their boards of directors by January is essentially voluntary.

The disclosure came at trial in a lawsuit by a conservative legal group that claims it’s illegal to use taxpayer funds to enforce a law that violates the equal protection clause of the California Constitution by mandating a gender-based quota.

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California official says women on boards law is toothless

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