Update on Hair Relaxer Lawsuit Status To Be Provided to Court at MDL Hearing

Lawyers continue to work on preparing a group of test cases for early trial dates, involving women diagnosed with uterine cancer and ovarian cancer caused by toxic chemicals in hair relaxers.

The U.S. District Judge presiding over the federal hair relaxer litigation is scheduled to meet with lawyers involved in the case tomorrow, at which time the parties will provide the court with an update on progress preparing for the first bellwether trials, which will test claims that toxic chemicals in the hair straighteners increased women’s risk of cancer.

Manufacturers of chemical straighteners like Just for Me, Dark and Lovely, and Optimum face more than 11,000 product liability lawsuits alleging that they failed to warn women about the side effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals in hair relaxers, which have been linked to reports of ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, endometrial cancer and other injuries. 

The litigation emerged after a 2022 NIH study found that women who used chemical hair straighteners more than four times a year were over twice as likely to develop uterine cancer compared to those who did not. Additional research has linked certain ingredients, such as phthalates, parabens and formaldehyde-releasing agents to hormonal disruption and tumor growth in reproductive tissues.

In response, a hair relaxer lawsuit MDL, or multidistrict litigation, was formed in the Northern District of Illinois in 2023, where U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland has been presiding over coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

As part of those proceedings, Judge Rowland has directed the parties to prepare a series of bellwether cases for early test trials, designed to give the parties a sense of how juries are likely to respond to evidence and testimony that would be repeated throughout the litigation.

On November 6, the parties will meet with Judge Rowland to update her on the hair relaxer lawsuit status, as well as the progress of discovery proceedings and bellwether preparations.

Ahead of the meeting, plaintiffs and defendants submitted a joint status report (PDF) on October 30, each outlining their respective positions on issues that will be addressed with the Court.

In the report, plaintiffs indicate that they have started scheduling depositions for the 32 plaintiffs selected as potential bellwether trial candidates. The parties also indicate they are working on an agreement to allow additional general causation experts to be designated at a later date to serve as potential trial witnesses.

In September, Judge Rowland gave the parties until March 2, 2026, to complete general causation expert discovery. After that phase of discovery is complete, the Court will move forward with a series of Daubert hearings in April 2026, which will allow the parties to challenge the admissibility of expert witness opinions.

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.

In addition to the federal hair relaxer lawsuits, the parties indicated there are currently at least 400 claims in Illinois state court in Cook County, another 600 filed in Georgia state courts, 25 filed in Pennsylvania, seven in New York, and one each in California and Delaware.

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