California official says women on boards law is toothless
By BRIAN MELLEY
Associated Press
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.
