Schedule for Hair Relaxer Lawsuit Bellwether Trials Outlined by MDL Judge

The pool of prospective hair relaxer lawsuit bellwether trials will include 32 ovarian, endometrial and uterine cancer claims, which will not be ready to go before a jury until at least 2027.

The U.S. District Judge presiding over all federal hair relaxer lawsuits has outlined the schedule for parties to prepare a group of bellwether cases for trial over the next year and a half, to help gauge how juries may respond to certain evidence and testimony that will be repeated throughout claims brought by women diagnosed with uterine cancer, endometrial cancer and ovarian cancer.

Cosmetics manufacturers face more than 6,500 product liability lawsuits brought by former users of popular hair relaxer products, such as Optimum, Dark & Lovely, Just For Me and others. 

Each claim raises similar allegations, that L’Oreal and other manufacturers provided false and misleading information to African American women for decades by failing to warn them of the potential side effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals contained in chemical hair straighteners.

Claims first began to pour in after the publication of an October 2022 study, which warned of a link between hair relaxers and cancer, finding that women who regularly use chemical straighteners faced a 156% increased risk of uterine cancer when compared to other women. Further studies also linked the products to increased risks of ovarian cancers and other injuries.

Given common questions of fact and law raised in complaints filed nationwide throughout the federal court system, the claims have been centralized as part of a hair relaxer lawsuit MDL (multidistrict litigation) in the Northern District of Illinois, where U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland is presiding over coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

Early in the litigation, Judge Rowland called for a series of bellwether trials to help the parties evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their positions, and potentially drive hair relaxer settlement negotiations, which will be necessary to avoid thousands of individual cases being set for trial.

Last month, the judge 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, but the parties have disagreed about how long it would take to get the first cases before a jury.

Hair Relaxer Lawsuit Bellwether Schedule

On March 5, Judge Rowland issued a case management order (PDF) laying out the bellwether selection process, and schedule for completing discovery and filing pretrial motions, which will not have the first hair relaxer bellwether trial going before a jury until at least 2027 

The order indicates the bellwether trials can only include those cases that were filed and served on or before February 1, 2024, and involve plaintiffs diagnosed with uterine cancer, endometrial cancer or ovarian cancer, who submitted a plaintiff fact sheet by February 28, 2025.

By April 30, Judge Rowland indicates she wants the parties to exchange a list of 20 eligible cases each, for a total of 40 selections, which will form the initial bellwether discovery pool. Each side will then be able to strike four cases from the other party’s list, resulting in 32 hair relaxer lawsuits, which will be identified in a joint status report due on May 9, 2025.

The schedule indicates fact discovery on the cases should be completed by February 16, 2026, with general causation discovery completed by March 2, 2026, and any Daubert motions challenging the admissibility of expert testimony due by May 15, 2026.

“By February 17, 2026, the parties shall file simultaneous position papers with the Court identifying 12 cases that shall be selected for additional discovery and trial (Bellwether Trial Cases),” the order states. “By February 23, 2026, the Court will select the first 3 of the Bellwether Trial Cases. By February 27, 2026, the Plaintiffs will select 1 case, and by March 5, 2026, the Defendants will select 1 case. By March 10, 2026, the Court will select the next 3 of the Bellwether Trial Cases. By March 13, 2026, the Plaintiffs will select 1 case, and by March 18, 2026, the Defendants will select 1 case These will comprise the 10 possible Bellwether Trial Cases.”

However, with summary judgment motions not due until November 2026, and responses and replies not due until early 2027, it is likely that the first bellwether trial will not be held until at least the middle of 2027. 

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.