Uterine and Endometrial Cancer Caused by Hair Relaxer Products: Lawsuit

Woman claims her reproductive cancers developed after more than a quarter century of using L’Oreal, Revlon and Softsheen hair relaxer products.

A Virginia woman has filed a lawsuit claiming that the use of chemical straighteners by several popular cosmetics companies led to the development of malignancies in her reproductive system.

The complaint (PDF) was filed by Sharon West in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on March 20, naming L’Oreal, Revlon and Softsheen-Carson as the defendants.

West’s complaint joins more than 6,500 similar hair relaxer lawsuits filed by mostly African American women following an October 2022 study, which highlighted a link between hair relaxer use and uterine cancer. Other studies have also linked long-term hair relaxer use to an increased risk of ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer.

Plaintiffs maintain that L’Oreal and other manufacturers have provided false and misleading information to African American women for decades, failing to disclose the side effects they may experience from the endocrine disrupting chemicals contained in widely used products like Dark & Lovely, Just for Me and other popular hair relaxer brands.

According to West’s lawsuit, she began using hair relaxer products in 1990 and continued using them until 2016. During that time period, West indicates she regularly used Optimum relaxer, Olive Oil Relaxer and Cream of Nature No Lye Relaxer.

West claims that as a direct result of exposure to the chemicals in these products, she was diagnosed with uterine cancer and endometrial cancer in May 2023.

Her lawsuit presents claims of negligence, gross negligence, negligent misrepresentation, negligence per se, design defect, failure to warn, breach of warranty, fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, violations of U.S. state consumer protection laws and unjust enrichment.

Hair Relaxer Cancer Litigation

West’s complaint will be joined with similar hair relaxer lawsuits currently consolidated for pretrial proceedings in the Northern District of Illinois, under U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland.

Judge Rowland called for a series of bellwether trials early in the litigation, 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.

Earlier this month, she issued a court order detailing the bellwether selection process, and a schedule for completing discovery and filing pretrial motions. It will likely take until at least 2027 for the first bellwether trials to go before juries.

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.