DES MOINES, IOWA (October 3, 2024) — Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is leading 21 other states in putting Nasdaq on notice for its discriminatory gender, sexuality, and race-based quotas for its directors.
In December 2020, Nasdaq announced its new quotas mandating that most Nasdaq-listed companies have at least two directors who self-identify as females, racial minorities, and LGBTQ+. Companies that do not meet the quotas are forced to explain themselves. Despite clear evidence, Nasdaq denied having quotas when challenged for violating anti-discrimination laws, and instead misleadingly reframed them as aspirations.
The Supreme Court already made clear, when it ruled university race-based admissions policies unconstitutional, that ending racial discrimination means ending all of it. The States make the case that the same standards apply to Nasdaq’s illegal quotas.
“No matter how Nasdaq tries to spin it, we know that if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck,” said AG Bird. “Nasdaq’s quotas are discriminatory and rob people of opportunities. This letter is Nasdaq’s official notice that we are watching, and violations of anti-discrimination laws will not be tolerated.”
The letter follows a brief Iowa sent in March, supporting legal challenges against Nasdaq’s quotas. Now, the States are calling on Nasdaq to provide its policies for assurance that state and federal anti-discrimination laws are followed.
Iowa led the letter and was joined by Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Read the full letter here.
