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L'Oreal Found Guilty of Racial Discrimination

by Marissa Gold (Subscribe to Marissa Gold's posts)
Posted Jun 25th 2009 at 12:18PM  
253 Comments
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L'Oréal: A dominant drugstore presence. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini, AFP/Getty Images

As reported by the UK Times Online, L'Oréal has been found guilty of racial discrimination by France's highest court, La Cour de Cassation. Some specific claims against the cosmetic giant:

  • Seeking an all-white sales team for Garnier Fructis styling products
  • Recruiting "BBR" staff (bleu, blanc, rouge--the colors of the French flag), a known term for those with purely French heritage
  • Faxing a memo that all Garnier hostesses should be 18-22, wear size 38-42, and be "BBR"
  • Candidates for employment at the L'Oréal agency were said to be 38.7% minorities, but only 4.65% of those hired represented minority backgrounds.
  • Employees said they were told to favor a white staff

Though company reps claimed that the requests were meant to source applicants who could speak French fluently and represent the brand eloquently, the court found that L'Oréal's racial favoritism was in violation of employment laws.

The company met its first sign of trouble last summer when it was accused of lightening Beyoncé's skin in ads she appeared in for various L'Oréal products.

What do you think about the case? Leave a comment below.
Read All Comments
Filed under: News
Tags: beyonce, beyonce knowles, BeyonceKnowles, fructis, garnier, guilty, lawsuit, loreal, racial discrimination, RacialDiscrimination
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READER COMMENTS

(253)Add A Comment

Crazydays!, 6-25-2009, 2:23PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
Crazydays!

All people of color and people who are not in favor of any discrimination should not buy this product. This is ridiculous in this day and age, but you still find those who will still discriminate. It's time that companies like this should know this will not take place in country or anywhere else where all people are human beings and deserve to be acknowledge as such. There are other products to buy, let's not buy this one.

Reply »

nick C, 6-27-2009, 11:24AM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
nick C

I am tired of hearing crying about race. What about the Black Miss America, or the AOL Black Voices, or the Black music Awards, or the NAACP, or the Negro College Fund..........Or a white Al Sharpton.......or Fairness for the Conn Firefighters, or a EEO /Afffirmative action for whites??
Am I missing something??

If all you want is Freebies, move somewhere else........

Did you ever think that most of the applicants could not even fill the form out right?
Give us all a break.

»

childofgod, 6-25-2009, 2:24PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
childofgod

In this day in age, when there's extremely beautiful people of all race, like Beyonce, Halle Berry, Lucy Lui you'd think such overt racism would be over. it's sad to think that people who cry racism over job promotion and disappropiate sentencing of miniroties have a case. But more and more racism is alive and well in the world sometimes just better disguised than others.

Reply »

The Truth, 6-25-2009, 2:26PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
The Truth

Don't Buy This Company's Products!! And I hope that Beyonce will have the common sense to try anyway that she can to get out of her contract with this company and not represent their products. Beyonce, take a stand against Social Injustice....no matter how much they are paying you!!

Reply »

Carolyn Bond, 6-25-2009, 8:28PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
Carolyn Bond

Deb, you weren't chosen, because you were too ugly...Too dumb or too slow...

»

Deb, 6-25-2009, 2:44PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
Deb

GIVE ME A BREAK....I'm a white American female and I'm discriminated against all the time, but you don't see me bitching about it. I have been turned down for many a job, especially government jobs, because they told me I was overqualified and the wrong color. That they have to keep up their percentage of minorities, even if it means hiring someone who is not fit for the job.

Not to mention being discriminated against because I'm female.

So stop complaining.

Reply »

Mo, 6-25-2009, 3:22PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
Mo

Please tell me how you as a white woman, constantly gets discriminated against? PLEASE tell me!! You probably have no personality! Have you ever considered that? White people like you blame your short comings on non-white people because you can't handle the fact that there are people of color "the better one for the job" than you are! You have been conditioned by society to think YOU are the better one for the job. STOP CRYING????? white people like you make me SICK to my stomach!!!! America has a HISTORY, I repeat, a HISTORY of discriminating against non whites!!! Read your history!!!!! IT"S NEVER OK TO DISCRIMINATE!!!!!!!!!! White people tend to be the perpetrators, it does happen the other way around, but it's PREDOMINANTLY white people who think " White is right" and discriminate against non-whites. You need to wake the hell up and get off your high horse! YOU need to get over it! Actually get over yourself, because you are NOT better than ANYONE, and you are not "entitled" TO ANYTHING because you are white!

»

Di, 6-25-2009, 3:35PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
Di

Amen, Deb!

»

gayle, 6-25-2009, 3:37PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
gayle

To Deb
Do you honestly want me to believe that you are being discriminated against because you are a WHITE woman?!!!!LOL!!!!! You got to be kidding!!!
Now if you were to have said you were discriminated against because you are a Woman I might of believed you. But anyone with an once of brain is not going to believe this crap about you being discriminated against because you are an
"overqualified white woman".

»

cassandra, 6-25-2009, 3:45PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
cassandra

THE POINT IS THAT IT IS WRONG EITHER WAY. BUT I MUST SAY THAT WE HAVE A HISTORY OF DISCRIMINATION IN THIS COUNTRY AGAINST MINORITIES. YOU HAVE TO STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS, BLACK OR WHITE. IF NO ONE DISCRIMINATED WE WOULD NOT HAVE THIS PROBLEM. I DOUBT PERCENTALLY, THAT MORE WHITE PEOPLE ARE DISCRIMINATED THAN BLACK,HISPANICS, AND OTHER MINORITIES. I WISH WE COULD SOLVE THIS ISSUE.

»

klmonet, 6-29-2009, 8:16AM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
klmonet

You have never been told by an "employer" that they would not hire you because you are the wrong color, or they wanted to keep up their minority count. If so, then you should have filed a discrimination claim. An employer would not make a statement as such for that very reason. Believe me if an employer is hiring a minority they are not just filling the position with someone who is underqualified. It would make no sense, if anything they would be more qualifed than you and still scrutinized. I'm sick of hearing people make false remarks like the ones you just made. The article shows how minorities are still in this day and age being discriminated against behind the scenes, but marketed to for profits.

»

Antonio F. Pruitt, 6-30-2009, 12:33PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
Antonio F. Pruitt

U are a liar.....I work for the Fedderal government and I assure U that nobody told u That u couldnt be hired because of your color...Feds are adamantly against ANY form of discrimination including sex, and age...U probably had other issues U arent telling....or thought your lilly white looks would advance U when these days they WILL NOT.....The world is moving on from ONE race domination as evident in the above mentioned article. GET REAL!!!...And stop lying!!!

»

IX, 6-25-2009, 4:24PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
IX

Deb, first of all, the government will not tell you that you weren't hired because you are the wrong color. I'm sure it happens, but they would not tell you and if they did, you would have a lawsuit. They will tell you if you are over qualified for a position, but you should know that when you apply for a position. Last but not least, you have the nerve to say stop complaining, BUT YOU ARE!!!!

»

Simzee, 6-25-2009, 4:25PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
Simzee

I agree with you. I've been turned down for many a things because of my WRONG skin color. (white) Luckily, this is in France....so it is none of my concern.

»

Simzee, 6-25-2009, 4:30PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
Simzee

Bitch, moan & paint your face black. You'll get further than a white person like that.

»

Cat1bb1@aol.com, 6-25-2009, 6:01PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
Cat1bb1@aol.com

If you were told that then you have a case against the employers who told you that, the difference is no one came out and told you that! Stop your whining, you have no idea what true discrimination is. Oh by the way, I am blonde and blue eyed!

»

tlkt, 6-25-2009, 5:21PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
tlkt

TO DEB - You are so full of crap. I am a "White American Woman" as well; and ignorant, narrow minded, idiots like YOU are an embarressment to all people, not just us “White American People.” PLEASE educate yourself before you speak on a topic. What you are referring to is called affirmative action:

[which was established to overcome the effects of past societal discrimination by allocating jobs and resources to members of specific groups, such as minorities and women. The policy provides that government contractors and educational institutions receiving federal funds develop such programs….not all employers (only those receiving federal funding of any type). The establishment of racial quotas brought charges of so-called reverse discrimination in the late 1970s. In three cases in 1989, the Supreme Court undercut court-approved affirmative action plans by giving greater standing to claims of reverse discrimination, voiding the use of minority set-asides where past discrimination against minority contractors was unproven, and restricting the use of statistics to prove discrimination, since statistics did not prove intent. The Civil Rights Act of 1991 reaffirmed a federal government's commitment to affirmative action, but a 1995 Supreme Court decision placed limits on the use of race in awarding government contracts; the affected government programs were revamped in the late 1990s to encompass any person who was socially disadvantaged. In the late 1990s, in a public backlash against perceived reverse discrimination, California and other states banned the use of race- and sex-based preferences in state and local programs. A 2003 Supreme Court decision concerning affirmative action in universities allowed educational institutions to consider race as a factor in admitting students as long as it was not used in a mechanical, formulaic manner. In Europe, the European Court of Justice has upheld (1997) the use in the public sector of affirmative-action programs for women, establishing a legal precedent for the nations of the European Union. ] See; The Columbia Encyclopedia. Copyright © 2001-09 Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

Anti-discrimitation laws protect all minorities, women included. And if an employer told you that you weren’t hired because you were quote “the wrong color,” then you would have pretty good grounds for a reverse discrimination law suit. Don’t even get me started on the actual percentage of minorities any government employer is required to hire….it’s a very small percentage!! I doubt seriously if YOU actually lost more than one, if that, employment opportunity as a result of affirmative action or any other minority qualifyer in your career. So suck it up and, in your own words, STOP COMPLAINING!!!

»

Claude, 6-25-2009, 5:30PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
Claude

Actually I am a white male and we have been discriminated against since the late 60's. If I wear an asian, spanish speaking, black female, I may stand a chance of gaining employment.

»

Tiwi, 6-25-2009, 5:42PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
Tiwi

I fully agree with you. I have been discriminated against because a stupid human thought I wasn't "capable" of certain things.

»

Brenda, 6-25-2009, 5:35PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
Brenda

I know where you're coming from. Regardless of anyone else saying that you must be lying, unless you've lived it, maybe you can't see that it exists. I do doubt, however, that the gov't told you that you were the wrong color. Even if that were the reason, they would NEVER tell you that.

I have a bi-racial daughter. I decided to take her & the rest of the family to a black doctor to reinforce the fact that regardless of skin color, you can be very successful, and that it shouldn't matter what skin color you have. Our first visit there, I was the only white person in the office with my daughter, 15 yrs old. One woman in the office seemed to take particular offence to the fact that I was white, and seeing HER doctor. For our entire wait, she harassed me (2 months pregnant), straight out accusing me of looking for drugs, insulting me incessantly, seeking the opinions of others in the office of why I would be in HER doctor's office. The idiot never shut up, continuing to throw comments at our backs as we walked out the door. HOWEVER, I will give credit to the other 10 black patients in the office who didn't join in on her abuse. Most of the patients looked embarassed by her behavior.

My husband was the only white student in an all black high school, and he got jumped all the time. That was about 20 years ago. It happens.

My point? Discrimination of white people DOES exist, just as with black, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Asian, European, etc. And for you who assume that she can't be discriminated against because she's a white woman, you are discriminating against her and every other white woman by denying the fact that it is a problem, and it does exist.

»

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