Managers at Estee Lauder are found guilty of bullying
after an employment tribunal in the UK ruled in favour of an
epileptic woman who accused the company managers of bullying.
Press reports had predicted a six figure payout but the tribunal did not award damages because business analyst Susy White accepted an undisclosed settlement with Estee Lauder, according to Out-Law.com. National press reports earlier in the week described how the cosmetics professional endured a torrent of abuse from senior managers at Aramis and Designer Fragrances, a division of Estee Lauder, after she revealed that she suffered from epilepsy. The tribunal heard how the managing director and sales director of the business unit had verbally abused White, calling her "a silly little girl" who would often "throw her toys out of the pram." Out-Law.com reported that the two Estee Lauder managers were found guilty of direct discrimination, disability discrimination and harassment Estee Lauder has said that it "sincerely regrets" the events and the distress caused to Susy White and promised to take steps to improve management training. The case follows the condemnation of the world's largest cosmetics company L'Oreal for racism in its employment practices. The Garnier subsidiary of the leading cosmetics giant was ordered by a French civil appeals court to pay a fine of €30,000 after it was found guilty of being racially biased when employing staff in 2000, as reported by Reuters.