Class Action Lawsuit Claims L’Oreal Illegally Omits Wage, Benefits Information from Job Listings

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims that L’Oreal violated Washington law by failing to disclose information about wages, benefits and other compensation in postings for available positions in the state.

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According to the 11-page lawsuit, L’Oreal USA and several affiliates, including Saloncentric and Designer Fragrances & Cosmetics, ran afoul of Washington’s Equal Pay and Opportunities Act (EPOA), which mandates that any job posting made by an employer with 15 or more employees must detail what sort of wage scale or salary range, compensation and benefits will be offered to the hired applicant.

The lawsuit claims the defendants’ alleged failure or refusal to comply with EPOA regulations is discriminatory and violates applicants’ civil rights, as it leaves them unable to compare the pay and benefits of open positions on the market. Per the complaint, the withholding of pay range information is especially harmful to applicants who may not have the ability to negotiate salaries or have an existing socio-economic disadvantage.

The transparency required by the EPOA, the filing says, forces employers to agree in writing to a pay range and benefits before encountering any applicants, which helps mitigate the likelihood that applicants will face a discriminatory wage gap. Per the case, pay range disclosures also allow employees and applicants to discover if they are being or will be underpaid and protect applicants from wasting valuable time applying and interviewing for a position only to find out late in the process that they cannot live on the offered pay.

The L’Oreal class action lawsuit looks to represent anyone who, between January 1, 2023 and the date of the court certifies the class, applied for a job opening in Washington, where the job posting did not disclose the salary range or wage scale and a general description of benefits and other compensation to be offered to the hired applicant, with one of the following companies:

• L’Oreal USA, Inc.;
• L’Oreal Travel Retail Americas, Inc.;
• L’Oreal USA S/D, Inc.;
• Saloncentric Inc.; or
• Designer Fragrances & Cosmetics Company.

Learn all about the legal process: What is a class action lawsuit?