Replacement Hair Relaxer Lawsuit To Be Selected for MDL Bellwether Pool

First trial in the federal hair relaxer MDL is not expected to begin until at least 2027, as lawyers conduct discovery in a group of 32 representative claims.

After one of the 32 hair relaxer lawsuits selected for a bellwether discovery process was voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff, the U.S. District Judge overseeing the litigation indicates that the manufacturers can select a replacement case by July, which will join the others being prepared for a series of early trial dates.

The replacement hair relaxer lawsuit will be chosen from more than 12,000 claims currently pending in the federal court system, which involve allegations that the makers of popular chemical hair straighteners, like Just for Me, Optimum, ORS Olive Oil, Dark & Lovely, Motions and others, have failed to warn women that the products may increase their risk of uterine cancer, endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer and other injuries. 

The litigation emerged nearly three years ago, after scientific evidence emerged that linked routine hair relaxer use to a significantly increased risk of reproductive cancers, particularly among Black and minority women who have been using these products for decades to remove the natural curl from their hair. 

Thousands of these women are now pursuing hair relaxer cancer lawsuits, alleging that manufacturers knew or should known about the long-term health risks from endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the products, but placed a desire for profits before the health and safety of women.

Given common issues of fact and law, all of the claims brought throughout the federal court system have been consolidated into a hair relaxer MDL (multidistrict litigation) before U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland in the Northern District of Illinois.

Judge Rowland is overseeing coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings for the litigation and plans to hold a series of bellwether trials to help the parties evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their cases and see how juries are likely to respond to evidence and testimony common throughout thousands of similar claims. The results could potentially lead to hair relaxer settlement agreements, potentially avoiding a multitude of costly and time-consuming individual trials.

Last month, plaintiffs and manufacturers announced the selection of 32 hair relaxer lawsuits that would serve as the initial bellwether discovery pool. 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 for trial.

Hair Relaxer Lawsuit Bellwether Replacement

In a docket entry (PDF) issued on June 10, the Court indicated that one of the hair relaxer bellwether lawsuits was voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff. Therefore, Judge Rowland has ordered the defendants to select an appropriate replacement by July 1, but suggested she intended for the deadlines to prepare the bellwether pool selections for trial to remain as they are.

“The Parties are required to work in good faith to complete fact discovery for any replacement cases prior to the selection deadline of the Bellwether Trial Cases,” the docket entry states.

The schedule calls for fact discovery for all 32 initial bellwether discovery cases 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.

In a court order (PDF) issued on June 9, Judge Rowland called for the parties to file a joint status report on the state of discovery next week, and the Court will hold a status hearing by video conference the next day, on June 20.

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