L’Oreal’s Racial Discrimination

By Staff

Tuesday, July 7, 2009, 17:37

The French Cosmetic giant L'Oreal is under fire for racial discrimination. There was an allegation against the company that they treated women from the minority communities in France unworthy of selling its shampoos. The French judiciary highest court has found the company guilty of racial discrimination.

SOS Racisme, an anti-racist campaign group in France had filed the case against the cosmetic giant. L'Oreal used to take all-white sales staff to promote Fructis Style, a hair care product made by its beauty division. Garnier wanted to exclude members of the minorities on the ground that they would be less likely to sell its shampoos in French shops.

It all started when a Districom executive had sent a fax to its headquarters in 2000 saying that Garnier's hostesses should be aged 18 to 22, wear size 38 to 42 clothes and be BBR. BBR (Blue, Black, Red) is an expression widely recognised in the French recruitment world as the code for white French people born to white French parents. This advertisement was then in effect excluding the ethnic minorities.

There were only 4.65 per cent of the hostesses hired for Garnier's campaign was black, Asian or Arab. The court found that the policy was illegal under French employment law.The judgment is a major blow to L'Oreal's image, which spends millions of dollars on advertisements featuring -Eva Longoria, Andie MacDowell, Penelope Cruz and Claudia Schiffer.