High court judge Maureen Duffy Lewis said in his ruling on Friday that the 2018 law violated the equal protection clause in the state constitution. The law requires listed companies headquartered in California to have up to three female directors according to the number and size of the board of directors by 2021, otherwise they will face fines.
The law has been challenged by judicial watch, a conservative legal group that believes that using taxpayer funds to enforce a law that provides for gender based quotas violates the equal protection provisions of the California constitution. In her 28 page ruling, judge Duffy Lewis agreed, saying "the plaintiff's evidence is persuasive".
Judicial Watch chairman Tom Fitton in a statement "The court repealed California's unconstitutional gender quota," it said The California Secretary of state's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
When Jerry Brown, then governor, signed the bill into law in September 2018, he pointed out that it could be overturned, but said he wanted to send a message in the #metoo era.
"Given all the privileges the company has enjoyed for a long time, it is time for the company's board of directors to include more than half of the 'people' in the United States," Brown wrote when announcing the signing of the bill.
The law came as the technology industry continued its efforts to address diversity. There are few women in the technology industry. In 2018, equilar, which specializes in board recruitment, found that 20.4% of technology companies in the Russell 3000 index had no women on their boards.
According to the data of California partners project, the initiator of the law, since the signing of the law in 2018, women now account for 26.5% of the seats on the board of directors of listed companies.