L’Oreal
Corprate Bias Ratings
Risk Level:
Summary:
L'Oreal vets vendors according to LGBTQ policies and is part of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, though the company has not publicly terminated business relationships based on views or beliefs. The company covers travel costs for employee abortions and the cost of "medically necessary transition-related care" for its employees and their children. L'Oreal discriminates against religious organizations in its charitable giving and has used its corporate reputation and funds to take sides in controversial issues. However, it does provide its employees with viewpoint protections. For these reasons, L'Oreal receives a Medium Risk rating.
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.
L’Oreal received a score of 100 on the Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign. Among other requirements, this means the company has pledged to vet vendors based on LGBTQ policies (1). The company is also a member of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, which aims to demonetize advertisements and suppress content that “vilifies” individuals based on sexual orientation and gender identity, discusses “debated social issues in a negative or partisan context” or spreads “hate speech” (2)(3)(4). However, there are no known instances of L’Oreal terminating business relationships due to views or beliefs.
Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.
L’Oreal will not match employee donations to churches, religious organizations, or political organizations. L’Oreal’s policy states, “We only support non-profit, public-interest organizations that share our Ethical Principles. We do not support organizations whose primary aim is to promote religious exclusivism or political convictions” (1). NOTE: This policy may be due to differing laws and cultural practices regarding religious expression in France, rather than due to any personal bias against religion amongst officials at the company.
Employment policies fail to protect against discrimination based on political affiliation/views and/or religion.
L’Oreal provides viewpoint protections for its employees (1).
Uses corporate reputation to support ideological causes and/or organizations hostile to freedom of expression.
L’Oreal 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 (1)(2). The company is a member of the Open for Business Coalition (3). L’Oreal has also signed the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion pledge, and the company is a member of the Civic Alliance, which advocates against state-level election security bills (4)(5).
Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.
L’Oreal is a member of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (1)(2)(3). The company is a Platinum-level sponsor of NYC Pride. L’Oreal indirectly donates to LGBTQ advocacy groups such as GLAAD and GLSEN (4). In addition, L’Oreal announced that it would cover out-of-state travel costs for employees seeking abortions after the overturning of Roe v. Wade (5). L’Oreal’s subsidiary CeraVe has a partnership with popular transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, who has advocated for the provision of gender transition treatments to children under the age of 18 (6)(7)(8). L’Oreal is a corporate partner of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (9).
Uses corporate political contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.
L’Oreal has a policy stating that it “does not contribute to political parties, politicians, or related institutions” (1).
All links were last accessed and all information was updated on:
August 18, 2023
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