Hair Relaxer Cancer Lawsuits Continue To Be Filed as Lawyers Prepare First Cases for Trial

The litigation has entered a pivotal stage, as bellwether case selections begin to shape how thousands of hair relaxer cancer claims may ultimately be resolved.

As thousands of women pursuing hair relaxer lawsuits currently await the outcomes of the first federal bellwether jury trials, new claims continue to regularly be filed in the federal court system, alleging that routine use of hair care products sold to African Americans and other women resulted in the development of uterine cancer, endometrial cancer or ovarian cancer years later.

In one of the most recent complaints (PDF) brought by a California resident on June 23, Shaqurie Franklin claims that she was diagnosed with uterine cancer and ovarian cancer after applying a wide range of different chemical hair relaxers to her scalp, including Dark and Lovely, Just for Me, African Pride, Crème of Nature, ORS Olive Oil and Motions, among others.

Franklin’s lawsuits joins more than 12,000 hair relaxer cancer lawsuits that have been filed over the last three years, following the emergence of scientific evidence that hair relaxer use significantly increases the risk of reproductive cancers, particularly among Black and minority women, who have been targeted by marketing for years suggesting they need to remove the natural curl from their hair.

As women continue to learn about the allegations involved in the claims, hair relaxer lawyers continue to investigate and file a steady stream of new claims. Since many of the hair relaxer cancers take years to develop, it is widely expected that the size and scope of the litigation will continue to grow significantly for the next several years to come.

Given the common questions of fact and law raised in these lawsuits, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation centralized all federal hair relaxer cancer claims in 2023, forming a multidistrict litigation (MDL) in the Northern District of Illinois, where U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland has been presiding over coordinated pretrial discovery and preparing a small ground of bellwether claims to go before juries.

As part of this MDL, the court approved a Master Long Form Complaint that outlines the core allegations shared by all plaintiffs, including the failure to warn about toxic endocrine-disrupting chemicals in products like Just for Me, Optimum and Dark & Lovely. To streamline the filing process, the court also authorized the use of Short Form Complaints, allowing new plaintiffs to adopt the master complaint’s allegations while specifying individual injuries and product use.

In addition, Judge Rowland issued a direct filing order, permitting new hair relaxer lawsuits to be filed directly into the MDL, regardless of where the plaintiff lives or where the product was purchased. This approach is designed to reduce delays and efficiently manage the growing volume of litigation.

Hair Relaxer Cancer Bellwether Trials

As the litigation advances through its coordinated discovery phase, the Court has turned its focus to the bellwether trial process, a critical mechanism in complex multidistrict litigation that allows the parties to test their claims and defenses before a jury.

These early test trials are designed to see how juries are likely to respond to evidence and testimony common throughout thousands of similar claims. The results could potentially lead to a global hair relaxer settlement agreement, potentially avoiding a multitude of costly and time-consuming individual trials.

In May, plaintiffs and manufacturers selected 32 hair relaxer lawsuits that will serve as the initial bellwether discovery pool, and be eligible for the first bellwether trial dates.

These claims each involve women diagnosed with uterine cancer, ovarian cancer or endometrial cancer after regular chemical straightener exposure, and are expected to go through case-specific discovery and depositions over the next few years, before the parties select a smaller group of claims that will go before juries.

Hair Relaxer Witness Depositions

As part of that process, witnesses, key executives and medical professionals who are key to the litigation will undergo depositions by attorneys for both sides.

On June 16, Judge Rowland issued a case management order (PDF) governing the deposition of all witnesses. The order details how witnesses are to be treated, allowable means of recording their depositions, how to schedule them, who can attend and other key protocols that the parties will be expected to adhere to throughout the litigation.

The schedule calls for fact discovery for all 32 initial bellwether discovery cases, including the depositions, to be completed by February 16, 2026. On the next day, the parties are to identify 12 cases they believe should go through additional discovery and be prepared for trial.

The court will select the first three hair relaxer lawsuit bellwether cases by February 23, 2026. However, additional discovery and Daubert motions will not be completed until early 2027. No first trial date has yet been set.

While the outcome of these early trials will not be binding on other women presenting a claim, they will be closely watched by lawyers involved in the litigation and may have a substantial impact on the timing and average amounts of any hair relaxer settlements offered to women diagnosed with uterine cancer, endometrial cancer and ovarian cancer in future years.

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