Published
April 24, 2023
Updated
June 13, 2026
More than 11,000 women who used chemical hair relaxers and were later diagnosed with uterine or other cancers have joined MDL 3060 — here is where the litigation stands and who may qualify to file.
Allegations Only · No Settlement Yet
This page describes ongoing litigation. The statements below are unproven allegations. No defendant has been found liable, no hair relaxer settlement has been reached, and there is nothing to claim at this time. This page is informational and is not legal or medical advice.
What's Happening Now (2026)
Thousands of women have sued the makers of chemical hair relaxers and straighteners, alleging that long-term use of the products caused uterine cancer and other hormone-related conditions. The federal cases are consolidated as In re: Hair Relaxer Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 3060, before Judge Mary M. Rowland in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (master docket No. 1:23-cv-00818).More than 11,000 lawsuits have been centralized in the MDL — 10,948 as of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation's January 5, 2026 report, and the count has continued to climb each month through 2026. The litigation remains in the pretrial phase: there is no settlement, and the first bellwether trials are not expected until around 2027.
Under the schedule set by the court, general fact and causation discovery wrapped up in early 2026, and the parties presented their competing scientific evidence to the judge at a "Science Day" session. General-causation expert motions under Rule 702 (Daubert) — the pivotal fight over whether the plaintiffs' science linking the products to cancer can reach a jury — were filed in the spring of 2026. Additional fact discovery on the bellwether cases closes June 10, 2026, and summary-judgment and remaining expert motions are due November 16, 2026.
Status
Active Litigation
Federal MDL 3060 · N.D. Ill. · Judge Mary M. Rowland
Pending Cases
11,000+
Per the JPML's spring 2026 docket reports; rising each month
Settlement
None Yet
No settlement fund and no claim form exist
Can I Join?
By Filing a Lawsuit
Individual cases only — review eligibility with an attorney
The Science Behind the Lawsuits
The litigation accelerated after an October 2022 study led by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health. Analyzing data from the long-running Sister Study, researchers reported that women who used chemical hair straightening products frequently — more than four times in the prior year — were more than twice as likely to develop uterine cancer as women who did not use them. The study estimated that 1.64% of women who never used the products would develop uterine cancer by age 70, compared with 4.05% of frequent users.Plaintiffs allege the products contain endocrine-disrupting chemicals — including phthalates, parabens, and formaldehyde-releasing preservatives — that can be absorbed through the scalp, often through small burns or irritation caused by the relaxer, and interfere with the body's hormones. Earlier research, including the Sister Study and the Boston University Black Women's Health Study, has also examined links between relaxer use and other hormone-related conditions. Because chemical relaxers have been marketed heavily to and used disproportionately by Black women, advocates have raised environmental-justice concerns about the products. These remain allegations, and the defendants dispute the science.
Products and Companies Named
The lawsuits name several of the largest manufacturers of relaxers and straighteners and their brands, including L'Oréal USA and its SoftSheen-Carson unit (Dark & Lovely, Optimum), Strength of Nature Global (Just For Me, Motions, TCB), Namaste Laboratories / Dabur (Organic Root Stimulator "ORS Olive Oil"), and Revlon (Creme of Nature), among others. Naming a company in a complaint is an accusation, not a finding of wrongdoing.Who May Qualify
Attorneys are generally reviewing claims from people who:• Used chemical hair relaxers or straighteners regularly, typically over a period of years; and
• Were later diagnosed with uterine cancer, endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer, uterine fibroids, or endometriosis.
Whether any individual case qualifies depends on the specific facts and on the applicable deadlines (statutes of limitation), which vary by state. This page is informational only and is not legal advice; eligibility is something to discuss with a licensed attorney.
Is There a Settlement? Watch for Scams
No. As of 2026 there is no hair relaxer settlement, no settlement fund, and no official claim form. Because the litigation is widely publicized, scammers have targeted potential claimants. Be cautious of anyone who says you can "file a claim" for a hair relaxer settlement today, asks for an upfront fee or your bank or Social Security information to "release" a settlement payment, or pressures you to act immediately. Legitimate mass-tort attorneys generally review cases at no upfront cost and are paid only if you recover, and there is nothing to claim while the cases are still in pretrial litigation.What Happens Next
The next milestones are the court's rulings on the general-causation expert motions and the bellwether trials. Bellwether trials are a handful of representative cases tried first to help both sides gauge how juries respond; their outcomes often shape any later global settlement. The hair relaxer cases are part of a broader wave of personal-care and consumer-product mass torts — see our overview of active mass tort lawsuits and the related talcum powder ovarian cancer litigation.Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a hair relaxer settlement yet?
No. As of 2026 there is no hair relaxer settlement, no settlement fund, and no official claim form. The cases are still in pretrial litigation in MDL 3060, with the first bellwether trials expected around 2027. Be cautious of anyone claiming you can file a claim for a hair relaxer settlement today or asking for money to release a payment — there is nothing to claim yet.What injuries are involved in the hair relaxer lawsuits?
Plaintiffs allege that long-term use of chemical hair relaxers and straighteners caused uterine cancer, endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer, uterine fibroids, and endometriosis, due to endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the products. These are unproven allegations and the science is contested by the defendants.Who can file a hair relaxer lawsuit?
Attorneys are generally reviewing claims from people who used chemical hair relaxers or straighteners regularly over a period of years and were later diagnosed with one of the alleged injuries. Whether any individual case qualifies depends on the specific facts and on state deadlines, so eligibility is something to discuss with a licensed attorney. This page is informational only and is not legal advice.What is MDL 3060?
MDL 3060 is the federal multidistrict litigation titled In re: Hair Relaxer Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation. It consolidates thousands of hair relaxer injury cases before Judge Mary M. Rowland in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for coordinated pretrial proceedings, including the selection of bellwether trials.How much are hair relaxer cases worth?
No payout amounts have been set. There is no settlement, and in a mass tort the value of any individual case depends on the specific injury and is determined through bellwether trials or a future global settlement, if one is reached. Anyone promising a guaranteed hair relaxer settlement amount today is not being accurate.Sources
• National Institutes of Health (NIEHS) — Hair straightening chemicals associated with higher uterine cancer risk• U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation — MDL No. 3060 docket statistics
• CourtListener — In re: Hair Relaxer Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation
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