About The Case

Wagstaff & Cartmell represents women who developed uterine, endometrial, and ovarian cancer after years of using chemical hair relaxer products. Tom Cartmell and Vanessa Gross were both appointed by the Honorable Mary M. Rowland to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in this litigation, which now includes more than 11,000 lawsuits filed against some of the largest cosmetics manufacturers in the world. Vanessa Gross also works extensively in the day-to-day prosecution of the litigation on behalf of the firm’s clients.

About The Case

Chemical hair relaxers are treatments used to permanently straighten naturally curly or textured hair. They work by breaking the bonds in the hair shaft with strong chemicals, including phthalates, parabens, and formaldehyde-releasing agents. These products have been marketed for decades primarily to Black and Latina women and are sold under well-known brand names including Dark & Lovely, Just for Me, and Optimum. In October 2022, a landmark study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that women who used chemical hair straighteners more than four times per year faced more than double the risk of developing uterine cancer compared to women who did not use these products. Additional research has linked the endocrine-disrupting chemicals in these products to ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer, confirming long-held concerns about the safety of ingredients that millions of women were never warned about.

In February 2023, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated the growing number of lawsuits into MDL No. 3060, centralizing them in the Northern District of Illinois before Judge Mary M. Rowland. The defendants include L’Oréal, Revlon, SoftSheen-Carson, Strength of Nature, Namaste, and other manufacturers and distributors of chemical hair relaxer products. Plaintiffs allege that these companies knew or should have known about the cancer risks associated with their products, failed to warn consumers, and continued to aggressively market products that were disproportionately used by women of color. The litigation has grown rapidly, with more than 11,400 lawsuits now pending in the federal MDL as of March 2026, along with additional cases proceeding in state courts in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.

The litigation is currently in an active discovery and bellwether preparation phase. The Court selected 32 cases for the initial bellwether pool, and defendants have completed depositions of 29 of the 32 bellwether plaintiffs. General causation expert discovery closed in early March 2026, and the April 1, 2026 deadline for defendants to file Daubert motions challenging the scientific evidence linking hair relaxers to cancer represents one of the most significant upcoming milestones in the litigation. Judge Rowland has indicated she expects to select three cases for the first bellwether trials by early April 2026, with the first trials anticipated in 2027. The outcomes of those trials are expected to heavily influence any global settlement negotiations. Meanwhile, the FDA has proposed a ban on the use of formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing chemicals in hair relaxer products, acknowledging the link between these chemicals and serious illness.

Wagstaff & Cartmell has been involved in this litigation since its earliest stages. Vanessa Gross filed one of the first cases in the MDL on behalf of a woman diagnosed with endometrial cancer after decades of hair relaxer use, and both she and Tom Cartmell were appointed to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, the leadership body responsible for conducting discovery, coordinating strategy, and preparing cases for trial on behalf of all plaintiffs in the MDL. The firm represents women across the country who were diagnosed with uterine, endometrial, or ovarian cancer following long-term use of chemical hair relaxer products.