Both Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts have been targeted by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) via a proposal to modify the companies' hiring practices. In letters from the AFL-CIO to the Securities and Exchange Commission, it said Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts should implement hiring practices based on the Rooney Rule. While EA said it will consider the proposal, Activision Blizzard rejected the proposal in a letter sent by its attorneys.

EA released a statement saying it would consult with the Board of Directors and stakeholders, but Activision Blizzard rejected the proposal in a letter from attorneys requesting the company be exempt from pushing the proposals to shareholders. The letter said, "While the Company has implemented a Rooney Rule policy as envisioned [for director and CEO nominees], implementing a policy that would extend such an approach to all hiring decisions amounts to an unworkable encroachment on the Company's ability to run its business and compete for talent in a highly competitive, fast-moving market."

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Activision Blizzard received a lot of criticism for attorney letter, which has led to Activision Blizzard president and COO Daniel Alegre issuing a statement attempting to clear up the letter. Alegre argues Vice, which first reported on the attorney letters, mischaracterized the SEC filings. "In fact, our hiring practices are rooted in ensuring diversity for all roles," he said. "We engage in this aggressively and successfully. Our objection was rooted in the fact that the AFL-CIO proposal failed to adequately consider how to apply these practices in all of the countries we operate in."

The Rooney Rule is a practice adopted by the NFL in 2003 that requires every NFL team to interview ethnic-minority candidates for coaching and senior operations jobs. Although the Rooney Rule does not have a hiring quota, only an interview quota, it has been considered controversial in practice. Outside of sports, the Rooney Rule and similar practices have been adopted by companies including Facebook, Pinterest, and Patreon. It seems Activision Blizzard does not want to be subject to the rule, as it could open the door to micromanagement from the AFL-CIO.

Activision Blizzard is home to thousands of employees and operates in over 18 countries. Although the practice proposed by the AFL-CIO extends to every open job position, Activision Blizzard claims it requires all candidates of all backgrounds, ethnicities, genders, races and sexual orientations considered for every role. Apart from the proposal and subsequent attorney letters, Activision Blizzard has been experiencing large success during the pandemic, with stock prices reaching its highest point since 1984.

With news for titles such as Overwatch, Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Diablo 4 coming soon, Activision Blizzard is slated for a big 2021. However, the company will have to deal with the backlash of rejecting the AFL-CIO proposal, which could result in some consequences since the AFL-CIO has a stake in both EA and Activision Blizzard. The negotiations seem to be in the works, and the recent statement from Alegre may clear up the perception of the initial rejection of the Rooney Rule proposal moving forward.

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Source: GamesIndustry.biz