L'Oréal Found Guilty of Racism

2009-06-24 | 12:04

Recruited all-white French sales staff for Fructis.

La Cour de Cassation, the French Supreme Court,has fined both L'Oreal and Adecco, its recruitment agency, 30,000 euros each after they were found guilty of racism.

The Court was told that L'Oreal had sought an all-white team of sales staff to promote Fructis Style, a hair care product made by Garnier, a L'Oreal's beauty division.

The company specifically asked for "BBR" recruits. The expression which stands for "bleu, blanc, rouge" -- the colours of the French flag -- is widely recognized in the French recruitment world as a code for white French people born to white French parents excluding the four million or so members of ethnic minorities in France.

Furthermore, the CourtL'Oreal and Adecco to pay another fine of 30,000 euros each in damages to SOS Racisme, the anti-racist campaign group, which brought the case.