Hair Relaxer Mass Tort Marketing Campaigns

At the beginning of June, the number of pending actions in the hair relaxer MDL stood at 10,317, an increase of 149 cases from the previous month.

 
Judge Mary Rowland ordered attorneys on both sides to submit a detailed joint status report on the status of discovery, including the scheduling of depositions and resolving disputes raised during the last conference.

 
Fact discovery is scheduled to run through February 2026, with general causation evidence due by March 2026. The discovery pool for the first bellwether trial includes 32 lawsuits involving women diagnosed with uterine, ovarian, or endometrial cancer.

 
Judge Rowland also dismissed L’Oréal SA, the French parent of L’Oréal USA, from the MDL, finding that the court lacks personal jurisdiction. But the ruling is not expected to have a significant impact on the litigation, as most of the cases do not name the French parent as a defendant, focusing instead on L’Oréal USA and its affiliated U.S. entities

232 new lawsuits were filed over the past month in the hair relaxer MDL, bringing the total to 10,168 cases as of the beginning of May.

 
The litigation remains in the discovery phase, with the first bellwether trial scheduled for November 3, and the second for February 2, 2026.

 
In Case Management Order No. 17, the court appointed Ellen K. Reisman as a Special Master to oversee and coordinate settlement negotiations in the MDL, without favoring either side. A settlement is not considered imminent, though.

 
The defendants filed a motion to dismiss a small group of lawsuits from the MDL, saying the cases missed a recent deadline to fix their plaintiff fact sheets.

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation reports that there were 9,936 hair relaxer lawsuits in the federal MDL at the beginning of the month, an increase of about 200 from March.

A case management order by Judge Rowland means that some women whose lawsuits were dismissed may have the cases reinstated. The judge said those harmed by chemical hair straighteners can submit new plaintiff fact sheets, allowing them to rejoin the lawsuit with minimal work if their claims were dismissed without prejudice due to technicalities.

One new lawsuit was filed by a Louisiana woman who alleged she developed ovarian cancer from hair relaxer products manufactured and marketed by Godrej SON Holdings, Luster Products, Namaste Laboratories,  and Strength of Nature.

A total of 9,788 pending cases were recorded in the first week of March, with 75 new cases having been added to the hair relaxer class action MDL over the course of February.

The court has issued a new order in the MDL, detailing the bellwether selection process and setting a clear timeline. By April 30, 2025, each side must select 20 cases, which will be narrowed to 32 Initial Bellwether Discovery Cases. Only cases filed by February 1, 2024, with completed Plaintiff Fact Sheets by February 28, 2025, and involving uterine, endometrial, or ovarian cancer, will qualify. Fact discovery is expected to end on February 16, 2026. Expert disclosures begin late this year, with general causation discovery closing March 2, 2026. The court will then identify 12 potential bellwether trials, later narrowed to 10.

Judge Rowland has introduced a detailed bellwether trial plan for the MDL, pushing the trial date back. The process begins with the selection and exchange of 20 Initial Bellwether Discovery Cases by April 30, 2025, and extends through January 6, 2027. By that time, replies for summary judgment motions will be due.

Meanwhile, settlement discussions continue, though plaintiffs resist the defendants’ push for a structured mediation process. Additionally, Rowland denied dismissal motions from John Paul Mitchell Systems, Wella, and Advanced Beauty.

As of this month, the MDL includes 9,819 pending cases, with 170 added last month. During the first week, both sides proposed different approaches for the bellwether trials. Plaintiffs aim to select 16 cases by February, with an anticipated September 2025 start. However, defendants proposed a more extensive selection process, which would delay trials until 2026. The judge’s decision on the timeline is forthcoming.

At the start of December, a total of 9,649 cases were recorded in the hair relaxer MDL, with 161 new cases having been filed in the previous month.

By now, the MDL has set an 11% assessment on gross recoveries—8% for attorney fees and 3% for expenses—to support litigation efforts, including discovery, expert retention, and trial preparation, while reimbursing essential case costs like depositions and document management.

Plaintiffs in the Hair Relaxer MDL claim defendants are delaying discovery by withholding key information on product ingredients and safety warnings. With missed deadlines and incomplete responses at issue, plaintiffs are pushing for a December 20, 2024, cutoff for compliance, arguing the delays jeopardize trial readiness and potential settlement discussions. A status conference Thursday could clarify next steps.

On December 16, an Illinois woman joined the Hair Relaxer MDL, alleging that prolonged use of chemical relaxers caused her uterine cancer. The lawsuit accuses major manufacturers of negligence and failure to warn consumers about endocrine-disrupting chemicals linked to hormone-related cancers, seeking damages for alleged misrepresentation and public health risks.

Since October, the MDL has surged by over 1,000 new filings, bringing the total to 9,488 cases. This significant increase reflects mounting pressure on defendants as litigation progresses, potentially influencing upcoming verdicts and settlement strategies.

October 18, 2024

A Georgia woman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit within MDL-3060, alleging that her mother’s long-term use of hair relaxer products led to a fatal uterine cancer diagnosis. The suit claims that L’Oréal USA, Inc., SoftSheen-Carson LLC, and other manufacturers negligently failed to test, design, and label these products properly, exposing consumers to harmful chemicals. The plaintiff seeks damages for wrongful death, loss of consortium, and punitive relief.