Lawsuit challenges California law requiring women on boards

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A conservative activist group is challenging California's first-in-the-nation law requiring publicly held companies to put women on their boards of directors.

The San Jose Mercury News reports Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit this week challenging the law, which former Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown signed last year.

The law requires all publicly traded companies to have at least one woman on their boards of directors by the end of this year. By 2021, boards with at least five directors must have two women members while boards with at least six directors must have at least three.

Companies could be fined $100,000 for not complying.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton called the law "brazenly unconstitutional."

State Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins said the lawsuit is an attempt to erode "landmark progress."