Amazon's the Latest Tech Company to Adopt the Rooney Rule: Here Are Some Others
Amazon is putting the so-called "Rooney Rule" in place to diversify its board of directors. But it's far from the first to try this tactic in the technology business.
May 16, 2018 at 07:04 PM
3 minute read

Amazon.com Inc. announced this week that it will require women and people of color to be included in the pool of applicants for its board member positions. The policy is being implemented at the Seattle-based behemoth in spite of current board members' initial opposition, according to a report from Recode.
But Amazon is not the first major company to adopt the so-called Rooney Rule. It was first established by the National Football League in 2003 to increase the number of ethnic minorities in head coach and senior football operations positions. Since then, some in corporate America have embraced the policy as a means of boosting hiring diversity, including several tech companies.
Here's a look at some tech companies with versions of the Rooney Rule in place.
Lyft
The San Francisco-based ride-hailing company has its own version of the Rooney Rule. For any open position at the director level or higher, Lyft Inc. requires at least one woman and one person of color to be part of the final interview stage. Tariq Meyers, former head of inclusion and diversity at Lyft, told TechCrunch in September that the company's also tried to create a diverse slate of interviewers.
Uber
Following the release of former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's report on Uber's culture in 2017, the company announced it would adopt its own version of the Rooney Rule. Like Lyft, Uber requires that at least one woman and one member of an underrepresented minority group get an interview for any key position, according to the Washington Post.
The Menlo Park, California-based company has said it has slowly but steadily increased its number of black and Latino employees, in part due to its use of the Rooney Rule. As of 2017, Facebook requires hiring managers to interview at least one underrepresented minority candidate for every job opening, Recode reported. In 2016, this policy was only for certain open jobs, but last year the practice was applied to all positions, according to Recode.
At the end of 2017, idea board website and application Pinterest released its gender and ethnic diversity statistics. The San Francisco-based company compared these statistics to the diversity goals it set at the beginning of the year, which included increasing hiring rates for engineers from underrepresented ethnic backgrounds to 8 percent. While Pinterest fell short, hitting 5 percent, the company said it's expanded the talent pool for leadership positions by interviewing at least one woman and one person from an underrepresented minority group for each open job.
Patreon
Patreon, a platform that allows creators to raise money for their work, updated its diversity and inclusion policies at the end of April 2018. The company released its first employee demographic report and pledged to have its workforce composed of half women and gender minorities and half people of color and ethnic minorities by 2020. Patreon's applied the Rooney Rule in hiring practices to help achieve those diversity goals.
➤➤ Stay on top of in-house developments with Inside Track, a weekly email briefing that breaks down the news, flags key issues, answers your questions, and keeps track of who's on the move. Sign up here.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
John Deere Annual Meeting Offers Peek Into DEI Strife That Looms for Companies Nationwide
7 minute read

How Qualcomm’s General Counsel Is Championing Diversity in Innovation
6 minute readTrending Stories
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250