Hair Relaxer Settlement Master Appointed To Oversee Negotiations To Resolve Cancer Lawsuits

Settlement negotiations for uterine cancer lawsuits, endometrial cancer lawsuits and ovarian cancer lawsuits will move forward as the parties prepare for a series of hair relaxer trials.

The U.S. District Judge presiding over all federal hair relaxer lawsuits has appointed a special master to help guide the parties through settlement negotiations, in hopes of resolving the litigation without the need to conduct thousands of costly trials.

L’Oreal, Softsheen Carson and various other cosmetics companies currently face more than 12,000 product liability lawsuits, each raising similar allegations that women developed uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer and other adverse health effects after using hair relaxer products.

The litigation first emerged in late 2022, following the publication of a study linking hair relaxers to cancer risks. The study found that women who regularly use chemical straighteners face a 156% increased risk of uterine cancer.

Lawsuits allege that the manufacturers knew about the risks associated with their widely used products, such as Dark & Lovely, Just for Me, Optimum and other hair straighteners, but placed a desire for profits before the health and safety of users, particularly African American women.

Since early 2023, the litigation has been centralized before U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland in the Northern District of Illinois, as part of a hair relaxer MDL (multidistrict litigation), where the Court is overseeing coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings to prepare for a series of “bellwether” trials designed to gauge how juries may respond to evidence that will be repeated throughout the claims.

Days before the parties held a status conference with the Court, Judge Rowland issued a case management order (PDF) on April 22, announcing that Ellen K. Reisman has been appointed as special master, “to assist the Court in coordinating settlement negotiations and discussions in these proceedings with the goal of facilitating settlements by and between the parties.”

Reisman is authorized to assist with hair relaxer settlement matters only, without acting as an advocate for either party. She has the ability to order the parties to meet face-to-face for negotiations, can construct negotiation procedures, make recommendations to the court, and report on implementation and compliance of court orders.

Hair Relaxer Bellwether Trials

The special master’s work with the parties will occur simultaneously as they prepare for bellwether trials, which are expected to help determine the average payouts jurors may award for different types of injuries. 

By April 30, each side has been directed to submit a list of 20 potential bellwether hair relaxer cancer lawsuits. Following a review of those 40 cases, each side will be able to strike four claims of its choice, leaving a total of 32 bellwether pool cases that must be identified in a report due to be filed by May 9.

By February 17, 2026, parties will propose 12 cases each for trial, and from that list the court will choose the first three hair relaxer lawsuits to go before a jury.

Following the selection of hair relaxer bellwether cases in the coming weeks, lawyers are expected to complete fact discovery by May 2026, with expert discovery concluded by October 2026. The court will then address final pretrial motions and challenges to the admissibility of testimony, before the first claims begin going before a jury.

While the outcome of these early trials will not be binding on other women presenting other claims, 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 no hair relaxer settlement is reached following the bellwether trials and court-order negotiations, it is likely that Judge Rowland will begin remanding the cases back to their various originating U.S. District Courts for individual trial dates.