L'Oreal Korea manager accused of abusing workers

Actress Blake Lively appears in a L'Oreal ad. The French cosmetics company's Korean branch is under media scrutiny for a manager who allegedly abused employees. / Screen capture from YouTube

By Ko Dong-hwan

Employees at a Seoul branch of global cosmetics and personal care company L'Oreal say a manager working there verbally abused them and treated them unfairly for years.

They claim to possess audio recordings of the person insulting employees. The manager of L'Oreal Professional under L'Oreal Korea, is allegedly infamous for a foul mouth - according to the workers' union LOK - and told a direct subordinate who returned from a long vacation that they “should be given a stipend for three months and sacked for good.” The comments were littered with slang terms and insults.

An employee disclosed the recordings to the company in January, including phone conversations between employees and the manager, whose name has been withheld. The employee also submitted a petition demanding justice for the manager and quit.

In the conversations, the manager urged an employee “to quit by the end of this month” while referring to the person as a “crazy idiot.” In another conversation, the manager called an employee “more pathetic than dirt stuck under a toenail.”

Other employees told TV broadcaster KBS the manager consistently caused problems for subordinates, telling them to work weekends, calling or sending text messages at night, tearing up papers and throwing them in their faces, and hitting their necks with a notepad. One of the complainants, who ended up suffering from insomnia, said most of the people targeted quit within a year.

L'Oreal Korea's promotional image from its Facebook page highlights the company's strong ties with its employees. / Courtesy of L'Oreal Korea's Facebook site

“The recorded data is just the tip of the iceberg,” one complainant said. “I heard those insults for years and felt extreme embarrassment. I sought a therapist to treat my distress.”

The company slashed the manager's pay for six months due to the complaints but, according to LOK, the manager continued abusing workers.

L'Oreal Korea had a labor-management clash when an employee tried to establish a second workers' union after he was indefinitely suspended from work following three months of paternity leave. When he returned, he found the company had broken a promise and replaced him, putting his post “on hold until further notice.”

“I joined LOK to address my complaint against the company,” said the worker. “But the company, without my agreement, then moved me to the human resource department so I could be a member of LOK according to the company policy. L'Oreal is not qualified as a family-friendly company or an ethically clean company at all.”

In 2010, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family awarded the company a “family-friendly company certification,” the first for a French company with branch offices in Seoul. The ministry recognized the company's efforts to help employees at work and at home. The ministry extended the certification in 2013 and 2015.

L'Oreal Korea President Yann Le Bourdon said he appreciated the government recognizing the company's “Share & Care” program that supports welfare, medical benefits and the children of employees across the world.

In response to the latest claims, L'Oreal Korea said it “had punished an employee reported to it with a serious penalty” and “will abide by internal regulations and processes to treat the issue fairly.”

The case is in the same vein as the rampant backlash against the Hanjin Group owners whose abusive attitudes towards subordinates have made workers and the public demand their removal.

Lee Myung-hee, wife of Chairman Cho Yang-ho, was banned from leaving the country for allegedly assaulting employees of Korean Air, the group's subsidiary. Her daughters, Cho Hyun-ah and Cho Hyun-min, were also investigated by police for verbal abuse and assaulting subordinates.