Hair Relaxer Lawsuit Settlement Talks Begin With Focus on Finding Mediator, Parties Report

Potential negotiations come as the parties work to select a pool of 40 representative hair relaxer lawsuits to prepare for early bellwether test trials.

In advance of a status conference later this week with the U.S. District Judge presiding over all federal hair relaxer lawsuits, lawyers involved in the litigation report that early settlement talks have focused on identifying a mediator or special master to oversee potential negotiations to resolve claims brought by women nationwide.

There are currently more than 6,500 product liability lawsuits being pursued against the makers of various hair relaxers, each raising similar allegations that chemicals contained in the straighteners caused former users to develope uterine cancer, endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer or other injuries.

The litigation emerged after the publication of a study in October 2022, which highlighted a link between hair relaxers and cancer, finding that women who regularly used the products face a 156% increased risk of uterine cancer compared to women who did not use them. Other studies have also found that exposure to the chemical hair straighteners may cause ovarian cancer, as well as other injuries

Plaintiffs maintain that L’Oreal and other manufacturers have provided false and misleading information for African American women for decades, failing to disclose the side effects they may experience from the endocrine disrupting chemicals contained in widely used products like Dark & Lovely, Just for Me, Optimum and other hair relaxers.

Given common questions of fact and law raised in complaints brought throughout the federal court system, the lawsuits are currently centralized as a part of a hair relaxer lawsuit MDL (multidistrict litigation) before U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland in the Northern District of Illinois, where the court is overseeing coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

Early in the litigation, Judge Rowland determined that a series of bellwether test trials would help the parties gauge how juries may respond to the claims, and promote potential hair relaxer settlement talks. Therefore, she has directed the parties to select a total of 40 hair relaxer lawsuits involving uterine cancer, endometrial cancer and ovarian cancer to prepare for early trial dates.

In addition, she has called for the parties to regularly update the court on the status of settlement negotiations, which could lead to a resolution before bellwether trials are necessary.

Court-Ordered Hair Relaxer Lawsuit Settlement Talks

On February 6, plaintiffs and defendants submitted a joint status report (PDF) ahead of a court conference scheduled for this Thursday, which indicates that they are working together to select a settlement mediator or special master to oversee the negotiations.

While plaintiffs indicate they are ready to turn in a list of acceptable mediators now, they are also prepared to go with the Defendants’ proposal to agree to mediators by March 20, 2025, when the next joint status report will be submitted.

“Defendants propose a process whereby the parties agree that within 15-days of the selection of a neutral or neutrals, Plaintiffs provide Defendants with their theory of the case as to each particular Defendant’s liability,” hair relaxer manufacturers proposed. “Thirty days thereafter, Defendants will provide a response to Plaintiffs’ statement.”

The defendants proposed that the parties begin meeting to confer over possible settlement mediators or special masters by March 3.

Hair Relaxer Lawsuit Bellwether Preparations

While preparations for hair relaxer settlement talks get underway, the parties have been directed to submit a joint proposed case management order outlining how the 40 bellwether cases will be selected by February 21, 2025, as well as the procedures for preparing these cases for early trial dates.

The bellwether claims will focus on lawsuits involving uterine cancer, ovarian cancer or endometrial cancer following hair relaxer user. However, plaintiffs who also experienced other injuries can be included in the bellwether pool, as long as they also have one of those three cancer diagnoses, according to an order issued by Judge Rowland last month.

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.

If the hair relaxer settlement talks do not result in any global resolution following the bellwether trials, it is likely that Judge Rowland will begin remanding each claim back to various different U.S. District Courts for individual trials in the coming years.