Can California legally require women on corporate boards?

LOS ANGELES (AP) — When then-California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the nation's first law requiring women on boards of publicly traded companies, he suggested it might not survive legal challenges.

Three years later, a judge will begin hearing evidence Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court that could undo the law credited with giving more women seats in boardrooms traditionally dominated by men. The California law has spurred other states to adopt or consider similar laws.

The conservative legal group Judicial Watch brought the lawsuit 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.

“They are creating a classification that either prefers or discriminates against one class or in preference of another,” attorney Robert Patrick Sticht said. He said the state doesn't have a compelling government interest to create the mandate.

Another conservative legal group has filed a separate lawsuit in federal court claiming the law violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Betsy Berkhemer-Credaire, CEO of the advocacy group 50/50 Women on Boards, who supported passage of the law. She is confident it will be upheld but said even if it is found unconstitutional that pressure from investors will lead to more women being named to corporate boards.

“The train has left the station,” Berkhemer-Credaire said. “I don’t think it’ll be a serious setback.”

The law required publicly traded companies headquartered in California to have one member who identifies as a woman on their boards of directors by the end of 2019. By January, boards with five directors must have two women and boards with six or more members must have three women.

Penalties range...