#WorkforceWednesday: Return-to-Work Behavior Policies, U.S. Soccer's Landmark Agreement, and Board Diversity in California - Employment Law This Week®
What Does The SEC Approved NASDAQ Diversity Proposal Mean For Boards?
From Distance Meetings to Diversity Reports: 2020 Updates for NY State Businesses
The Importance of Knowing Your Industry and Business Leadership
In August 2021, the SEC approved new board diversity rules requiring Nasdaq-listed companies (i) to include a board diversity matrix in their proxy statement or on their website and (ii) to disclose whether they have one...more
On December 11, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit struck down Nasdaq’s board diversity rules, which were designed to increase representation of women and minorities on corporate boards. Since 2023, the...more
The number of pro-DEI proposals submitted by shareholders decreased overall in the 2024 proxy season compared to the 2023 proxy season, according to data provided by Proxy Analytics. Average support for DEI proposals...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit agreed recently to revisit a challenge to Nasdaq's board diversity rule. As we previously reported, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit upheld the rule in October 2023....more
For two decades, Fenwick has reported on corporate governance statistics and trends among the S&P 100 and Silicon Valley’s top public companies (Fenwick – Bloomberg Law Silicon Valley 150 List), with the goal of educating...more
In Alliance for Fair Board Recruitment v. SEC, a panel of three 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges upheld Nasdaq’s rules on board diversity. The rules require each Nasdaq-listed company to disclose information on the...more
The intense focus on board diversity from a variety of stakeholders over the last several years has spurred many companies to examine the composition of their boards and to take action to diversify their boardrooms. While the...more
On 13 March 2023, the UK's Parker Review on Ethnic Diversity on UK Boards (the “Review”) published an update report (the "2023 Update") detailing recent progress that has been made in addressing the disparity between levels...more
In August 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved new board diversity listing standards for companies listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (Nasdaq). As part of these new listing standards, Nasdaq...more
All Nasdaq-listed companies must now disclose a board diversity matrix by the later of (1) August 8, 2022, or (2) the date the company files its proxy statement for the 2022 annual meeting of shareholders (or, if companies do...more
For the second time this spring, a California statute designed to promote diversity in corporate boardrooms was blocked by a state judge. On May 13, 2022, in Crest v. Padilla I (Los Angeles Superior Court Case No....more
Das am 1. Mai 2015 in Kraft getretene Teilhabegesetz verpflichtet Gesellschaften, die börsennotiert sind oder der Mitbestimmung unterliegen sowie Gesellschaften, die börsennotiert und mitbestimmt sind, zur Festlegung von...more
On May 13, 2022, Judge Maureen Duffy Lewis of the Superior Court of the State of California for Los Angeles County entered judgement in favor of three taxpayers bringing state constitutional challenges to S.B. 826, a bill for...more
On Friday, May 13, a California Superior Court judge struck down Senate Bill (“SB”) 826—California’s landmark gender diversity law regarding the representation of women directors on the boards of publicly held corporations...more
The California Secretary of State has announced that she has directed counsel to file an appeal of the May 13 verdict of the Los Angeles Superior Court in Crest v. Padilla, which ruled unconstitutional SB 826, California’s...more
Ruling Follows Similar Decision on Underrepresented Minority Directors in April 2022 - A California court has held that California Senate Bill 826, which required that “publicly held” corporations that listed a California...more
On May 13, 2022, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge struck down California's legislation requiring representation of women on the boards of publicly held companies with principal executive offices in California. The law,...more
The law suffers the same fate as the California board diversity law requiring directors from “underrepresented communities.” On May 13, 2022, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis issued a ruling in Crest...more
As I noted yesterday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis has found California's female director quota law, SB 826, to violate the Equal Protection clause of the California Constitution (A person may not be ....more
A California Superior Court judge has invalidated state legislation that required boards of publicly held corporations headquartered in California to include a minimum number of directors from underrepresented communities. ...more
Board diversity requirements have hit the headlines again due to a recent ruling by a California Superior Court judge who struck down a 2020 California law (AB 979) that required companies headquartered in California to have...more
Despite a California superior court’s recent ruling against a 2020 California law (AB 979), the move toward increasing board diversity is alive and well, as proxy advisory firms, institutional investors, Nasdaq and others...more
Earlier this year, the trial of one of the challenges to SB 826, California's female director quota law, concluded but Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis has yet to release her decision. Crest v. Weber,...more
Board diversity is one of the most visible corporate governance topics today. As the pressure to diversify boards continues to increase, we anticipate that key constituencies for all types of entities, including nonprofits,...more
The California gender board diversity law may suffer the same fate. On April 1, 2022, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Terry A. Green issued a summary judgment order finding that California Corporations Code §...more