Estee Lauder Companies

Clinique, Aveda, Origins, Bobbi Brown, AERIN, aramis, Bumble and Bumble, Darphin, Dr. Jart+, Glamglow, Jo Malone, Kilian, La Mer, LAB Series, Le Labo, MAC, Niod, Smashbox, The Ordinary, Tom Ford Beauty, Too Faced
New York
Household and Personal Products

Corprate Bias Ratings

Risk Level:

Rating - Danger
High Risk

Estee Lauder Companies fired a top executive over a "racially insensitive" social media post but has refused to terminate a board member due to his support of Donald Trump. The company vets vendors according to LGBTQ policies and does not provide its employees with protections against viewpoint discrimination. Estee Lauder covers the cost of "medically necessary transition-related care" for its employees and their children and supports the Equality Act. Estee Lauder covers employee abortion travel expenses, has supported Planned Parenthood and pledged $11.8 million to BLM and related causes. However, the company requires organizations abide by its charitable giving policies. For these reasons, Estee Lauder receives a High Risk rating.

Criteria
Risk Level
Rationale
Corporate Weaponization
Criteria

Has denied service to customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level
Rationale

Estee Lauder fired a top executive in 2022 over what it deemed a racially insensitive social media post (1). Estee Lauder held firm against employee pressure to oust a board member and family heir, Ronald Lauder, due to his support of President Trump (2)(3). Estee Lauder received a score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index. Among other requirements, this means the company has a written policy pledging to vet vendors for LGBTQ policies (4)(5).

Criteria

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level
Rationale

Estee Lauder’s s charitable giving guidelines require that organizations abide by its nondiscrimination policy including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, thereby excluding some religious charities (1).

Criteria

Employment policies fail to protect against discrimination based on political affiliation/views and/or religion.

Risk Level
Rationale

Estee Lauder does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees (1).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy
Criteria

Uses corporate reputation to support ideological causes and/or organizations hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level
Rationale

Estee Lauder is a member of the Business Coalition for the Equality Act (1). Estee Lauder subsidiary Aveda requires unconscious bias training for all full-time employees (2). Aveda is a Ceres Network Member, committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2040 (3)(4). Estee Lauder denounced state legislatures’ efforts to change their election processes (5).

Criteria

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level
Rationale

Estee Lauder pledged to fund employee abortion out-of-state travel and additional costs (1). Estee Lauder has a perfect score on the HRC’s 2022 Corporate Equality Index. This score indicates the company covers the cost of “medically necessary transition-related care” for its employees and their children (2)(3). Estee Lauder and affiliates gave $500,000 to Planned Parenthood (4). Estee Lauder pledged $11.8 million to Black Lives Matter and related causes (5)(6).

Criteria

Uses corporate political contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.

Risk Level
Rationale

Estee Lauder does not have a PAC but has not lobbied in an ideological manner (1)(2).

All links were last accessed and all information was updated on:
November 28, 2023

Company reports are intended for educational use only. Full Disclaimer

Generate Reports
Clear
Toast

This website stores cookies on your computer. These cookies are used to collect information about how you interact with our website and allow us to remember you. We use this information in order to improve and customize your browsing experience and for analytics and metrics about our visitors both on this website and other media. To find out more about the cookies we use, see our Privacy Policy.

Accept