The legal complaints filed noted that the risks of developing cancer are more substantial among Black women, who make up the overwhelming majority of consumers of hair relaxing products.

On February 6, 2023, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) consolidated over 50 products liability and consumer protection lawsuits alleging that hair relaxing products, which are marketed primarily to Black women, were linked to cancer, endometriosis and other reproductive health problems.

The lawsuits were consolidated into a multidistrict litigation (MDL) and transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois before Judge Mary M. Rowland, with the expectation that consolidation will streamline discovery and pre-trial proceedings.

Prior to transfer, the cases were pending in 19 judicial districts across the United States, including New York, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Georgia and California.

Defendants, which include subsidiaries of L’Oréal S.A., as well as Godrej SON Holdings, Inc., Strength of Nature, LLC, and Dabur International Ltd., opposed the consolidation into an MDL on the grounds that the cases involved numerous disparate questions of fact. Specifically, defendants noted the inclusion of multiple competing defendants who manufactured and sold multiple lines of products, while plaintiffs alleged multiple disparate injuries over the last 50 years; nor did plaintiffs identify a single chemical common to all hair relaxer products that is alleged to have caused plaintiffs’ injuries. Feb. 6, 2023 Order at 1.

Nevertheless, the JPML concluded that the lawsuits “share common questions of fact” arising from allegations that:

• The products contained phthalates, specifically di-2-ethylhexylphthalate, or other so-called endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) such as parabens or phenols;
• The use of such products caused or increased the risk of developing uterine, ovarian or breast cancer, endometriosis, uterine fibroids or other injuries to the reproductive system;
• Whether defendants knew or should have known of the alleged risks posed by hair relaxer products; and
• Whether defendants engaged in adequate testing and post-market surveillance.

The JPML further noted that centralization would obviate “the risk of duplicative discovery and inconsistent rulings on pretrial issues such as what level of exposure to phthalates or other EDCs poses a risk of reproductive injury, and what obligation, if any, defendants had to disclose the presence of such chemicals in their hair relaxer products.” See id. at 2.

Plaintiffs began filing the lawsuits soon after the publication of a study by the National Institutes of Health on October 17, 2022, which concluded that women who used chemical hair straightening products were at a higher risk for developing uterine cancer than those who did not use the products.

The study noted that approximately 60 percent of the participants who reported using straighteners in the previous year were self-identified Black women. Although the study did not find that the relationship between straightener use and uterine cancer incidence differed by race, the researchers speculated that adverse health effects may be greater for Black women due to the prevalence of use of hair straighteners among Black women.

The researchers did not collect information on brands or ingredients in the hair products the women used. However, they noted the presence of several chemicals found in straighteners (such as parabens, bisphenol A, metals and formaldehyde) that could be contributing to the increased uterine cancer risk observed.

The legal complaints filed noted that the risks of developing cancer are more substantial among Black women, who make up the overwhelming majority of consumers of hair relaxing products.

The complaints further attributed this disparity to the way relaxing products were marketed and sold—primarily to Black girls and women in response to discriminatory treatment of natural Black hair and hairstyles, which were often regarded as socially unacceptable, and Eurocentric conceptions of physical female beauty.

Although there are only about 53 cases pending at this time, the implications of this MDL are significant. Over 80 percent of Black women in the U.S. use or have used hair relaxing products regularly. Likewise, there are significant numbers of women diagnosed with uterine, cervical and endometrial cancer each year. Although only 12 different defendants are named at this time, the hair relaxing product market contains dozens of manufacturers, who could also be added to this MDL. Given the substantial advertising by the plaintiffs’ bar, and the fact that plaintiffs have alleged injuries as varied as uterine fibroids and endometriosis, the number of cases filed is expected to grow exponentially over the next few months.

For More Information

If you have any questions about this Alert, please contact Sharon L. Caffrey, Alyson Walker Lotman, Kelly A. Bonner, any of the attorneys in our Fashion, Retail and Consumer Branded Products Group or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

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