California Leads Out Again in Requiring Corporate Boards to Seat Racially or Ethnically Diverse Directors

Yesterday, September 30, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom (right) of California signed into law legislation that requires California Corporate Boards to include Racially, Ethnically or Otherwise diverse board members by 2021.  This legislation follows the 2018 CA requirement that California Corporations include gender diversity on their Boards.  As reported by Anne Steele in the Wall Street Journal’s “California Rolls Out Diversity Quotas for Corporate Boards“:

“The new quota is the first of its kind in the U.S. and follows a similar California measure enacted two years ago that mandated female directors on all boards of the state’s public companies. The law is expected to have wide-ranging impact within the state’s borders and beyond, potentially sparking fresh debate and legislative efforts in other parts of the country.  ‘We have a vision about how this state could be an example for the rest of the country,’ said Assemblyman Chris Holden, a co-author of the bill. ‘This is an opportunity to get people of color at the table where the decisions are made, where the culture is set.’

Under the new 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.”

The bill passed the California House overwhelmingly before being signed into law by Governor Newsom.

hat tip: Austin Reed, 3L-Arkansas Little Rock Bowen School of Law