A federal judge in Illinois has greenlit a consumer class action lawsuit against major hair relaxer brands, including L’Oreal USA and Revlon, in a case that could impact thousands of consumers seeking reimbursement and medical monitoring funds.
The lawsuit centers on allegations that certain chemical hair relaxers, widely marketed to women of color, cause uterine cancer and other serious health issues.
U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland largely rejected the companies’ motion to dismiss the case, which consolidates claims from consumers who say they would not have purchased the hair relaxers if they had known about the risks.
The lawsuit, representing two classes, seeks economic damages, punitive damages, and medical monitoring costs for individuals who believe they may be at increased risk due to the use of these products.
The economic damages class covers any U.S. consumer who purchased these products, while the medical monitoring class targets consumers in specific states who used the relaxers at least four times a year and have not been diagnosed with uterine or ovarian cancer.
The class action follows the 2022 release of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study that linked frequent use of chemical hair straighteners to more than double the risk of uterine cancer in women.
This sparked a wave of lawsuits alleging that hair relaxer products caused uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, and other health complications. To date, more than 8,500 lawsuits have been filed, according to data from the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.
In previous statements, L’Oreal and Revlon have denied any link between their products and cancer.
L’Oreal expressed confidence in the safety of its products, while Revlon stated it does not believe the science supports the alleged health risks.
In November, Judge Rowland had also dismissed efforts by these companies to throw out injury-related claims, ruling that plaintiffs had presented sufficient evidence to support allegations of negligence, defective product design, and failure to warn.
This ruling enables the class action to proceed as consumers across the nation seek accountability from major hair relaxer manufacturers in what may become a pivotal case for consumer health and product safety.
