Updates & timeline for toxic hair relaxers

At least five more toxic hair relaxer lawsuits were filed in December nationwide. While four of these cases were brought in the Northern District of Illinois, one was filed in the Southern District of Ohio. Two of these lawsuits allege uterine fibroids as the primary injury, and the others allege uterine cancer. If people continue filing hair relaxer lawsuits at this pace, there should be roughly 25 pending by the time the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation decides on the multidistrict litigation in February. As for the settlements, for endometriosis cases, plaintiffs could receive between $100,000 and $300,000 in compensation, whereas for those suffering from uterine cancer, the sum of money could range between $400,000 and $1.75 million.

L'Oréal and SoftSheen Carson filed a response to the plaintiffs' motion of transfer on December 7. The companies oppose the consolidation of the lawsuits in multidistrict litigation. L'Oréal argues that consolidation is not appropriate because the hair relaxer cases do not involve common allegations or questions of fact. However, if the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation grants the request and consolidates the hair relaxer lawsuits, L'Oréal will strive to have the Southern District of New York, where the company is headquartered, as the forum for the litigation, as opposed to Illinois, according to the company.

Alleging her use of chemical hair relaxers is to blame for her endometriosis and uterine cancer, a woman filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against seven manufacturers, among which are L'Oréal, and Strength of Nature. The complaint alleges that "phthalates and other endocrine disrupting chemicals" in the hair relaxers caused her to develop endometriosis and uterine cancer. Furthermore, the lawsuit names the products the woman used – Dark & Lovely, and Just for Me.

The woman alleges the defendants were engaged in deceiving marketing that gave the impression their hair relaxers were made from "natural" ingredients instead of "harmful chemicals." Moreover, the complaint alleges that many women on hair relaxer packages actually used hair straightening tools instead of chemical hair relaxers to achieve the look displayed on the boxes, which is a fraudulent practice. The plaintiff started using hair relaxers at 10 and used these products for 30 years until 2017. She was diagnosed with endometriosis and uterine cancer in July 2017 at 39, undergoing a full hysterectomy in September 2017.

The lawsuit argues that the defendants should be found strictly liable for the plaintiff's damages because they knew or should have known that their hair relaxers could cause cancer but failed to warn about this risk on the package of the products. According to the complaint, the defendants also knew or should have known that their products could cause uterine cancer due to "scientific knowledge dating back for decades." The plaintiff is seeking compensation for the following:

• severe pain
• suffering
• disability
• infertility
• loss of enjoyment of life
• impairment
• loss of care
• loss of comfort
• economic damages

A group of plaintiffs injured by chemical hair relaxers filed a motion of transfer with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to centralize all lawsuits brought through the federal court system before one judge. They allege that the products they used contain endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as phthalates, which are highly toxic. Moreover, the plaintiffs claim that while the manufacturers were aware of the health risks linked to the use of their products, they failed to warn consumers and continued to market the hair relaxers to Black women. There are at least nine hair relaxer lawsuits pending across the country involving claims on behalf of 13 different plaintiffs. It is expected that the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation will decide whether to consolidate the lawsuits in multidistrict litigation during a hearing session on January 26 in Miami, Florida.

On 21 October 2022, a hair relaxer lawsuit was filed in Chicago. Plaintiff Jenny Mitchell is a Missouri resident who began using chemical hair relaxers when she was eight years old. She claims the hair relaxer products marketed to African American women have led to the development of her uterine cancer. Cosmetics companies, including L'Oreal, are named as defendants in this hair relaxer lawsuit.

A recent study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in October 2022 found that about 4.05% of women who used chemical hair relaxers would develop uterine cancer by the age of 70.

Campaign group Level Up has launched a petition calling on cosmetics giants such as Revlon and L'Oréal to remove toxic ingredients from their chemical hair relaxer products.

Two women filed a class action lawsuit in Los Angeles alleging that L’Oréal’s chemical hair relaxer has left them with bald patches and scalp burns. The SoftSheen Carson Optimum Amla Legend Relaxer Kit targeting African-American women was promoted by celebrities such as Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland.

The plaintiffs represented by Mark J. Geragos were seeking compensation on the grounds of:

• false advertising
• consumer fraud
• deceptive business practices
• breach of express warranty
• breach of implied warranty of merchantability
• fraud and negligence