Cosmetics giant fined for racism

PARIS, July 7 (UPI) -- French cosmetics giant L'Oreal has been found guilty of racial discrimination for trying to exclude women of color from promoting its products, it was reported Saturday.

The Garnier division of L'Oreal, and a recruitment agency, were fined $46,000 each for recruiting women on the basis of race, and a senior executive was given a three-month suspended sentence, The Independent reported. It was the first time a major company in France has been found guilty of systematic race discrimination. 

Evidence included a July 2000 fax stipulating L'Oreal saleswomen should be "BBR", the initials for bleu, blanc, rouge -- the blue, white and red colors of the French flag.

Prosecutors argued BBR, a shorthand used by racial extremists in France, is a well-known code among employers to mean "white" French people and not those of north African, African and Asian backgrounds.

A former employee of Districom, a firm acting for Garnier, told the court her clients demanded white hostesses, the British newspaper reported.