Nearly 60 hair relaxer lawsuits against L'Oreal, others consolidated in
Illinois federal court
Send a link to a friend
[February 07, 2023]
By Diana Novak Jones
(Reuters) - Nearly 60 lawsuits claiming hair relaxer products sold by
L'Oreal USA Inc and other companies cause cancer and other health
problems will be consolidated in Chicago federal court, according to a
Monday order from the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.
At least 57 lawsuits have been filed in federal courts across the
country over the products, which use chemicals to permanently straighten
textured hair, court records show. The lawsuits allege the companies
knew their products contained dangerous chemicals but marketed and sold
them anyway.
The actions will be centralized into a multidistrict litigation before
U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland, which will streamline discovery
efforts and other pretrial issues for the cases, according to the order.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Feb/07/images/ads/current/humanesociety_sda022411.png)
The cases name the U.S. subsidiary of L'Oreal SA and subsidiaries of
India-based companies Godrej SON Holdings Inc and Dabur International
Ltd. Representatives for the companies, which opposed centralization of
the cases, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In a statement posted online after the first lawsuits were filed,
L'Oreal said it is "confident in the safety of our products and believe
the recent lawsuits filed against us have no legal merit."
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/020723PIX/health45.jpg)
A L'Oreal logo is seen at the company's
offices in Levallois-Perret, near Paris, France, May 7, 2021.
REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Feb/07/images/ads/current/castlemanor_sda_FINANCIAL_2017.png) The lawsuits follow the October
publication of a National Institutes of Health study that found
women who used the products multiple times a year were more than
twice as likely to develop uterine cancer.
Diandra Debrosse Zimmermann of DiCello Levitt, who filed the first
case after the study was published, urged the Judicial Panel on
Multidistrict Litigation at a hearing last month to send the cases
to Rowland.
Debrosse Zimmermann said the panel's decision "recognized the clear
benefits of centralizing the hair relaxer litigation,” adding that
she expects many more firms to file their cases in the coming weeks.
She estimates that thousands of women could end up suing over the
products, which are typically marketed to women of color.
(Reporting by Diana Jones; editing by Leigh Jones)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Feb/07/images/ads/current/ldn_sda_KAREN_012823.png) |