Given common questions of fact and law raised in complaints brought throughout the federal court system, the lawsuits are currently centralized as a part of a hair relaxer lawsuit MDL (multidistrict litigation) before U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland in the Northern District of Illinois, where the court is overseeing coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.
Early in the litigation, Judge Rowland determined that a series of bellwether test trials would help the parties gauge how juries may respond to the claims, and promote potential hair relaxer settlement talks. Therefore, she has directed the parties to select a total of 40 hair relaxer lawsuits involving uterine cancer, endometrial cancer and ovarian cancer to prepare for early trial dates.
In addition, she has called for the parties to regularly update the court on the status of settlement negotiations, which could lead to a resolution before bellwether trials are necessary.
Court-Ordered Hair Relaxer Lawsuit Settlement Talks
On February 6, plaintiffs and defendants submitted a joint status report (PDF) ahead of a court conference scheduled for this Thursday, which indicates that they are working together to select a settlement mediator or special master to oversee the negotiations.
While plaintiffs indicate they are ready to turn in a list of acceptable mediators now, they are also prepared to go with the Defendants’ proposal to agree to mediators by March 20, 2025, when the next joint status report will be submitted.
“Defendants propose a process whereby the parties agree that within 15-days of the selection of a neutral or neutrals, Plaintiffs provide Defendants with their theory of the case as to each particular Defendant’s liability,” hair relaxer manufacturers proposed. “Thirty days thereafter, Defendants will provide a response to Plaintiffs’ statement.”
The defendants proposed that the parties begin meeting to confer over possible settlement mediators or special masters by March 3.
Hair Relaxer Lawsuit Bellwether Preparations
While preparations for hair relaxer settlement talks get underway, the parties have been directed to submit a joint proposed case management order outlining how the 40 bellwether cases will be selected by February 21, 2025, as well as the procedures for preparing these cases for early trial dates.
The bellwether claims will focus on lawsuits involving uterine cancer, ovarian cancer or endometrial cancer following hair relaxer user. However, plaintiffs who also experienced other injuries can be included in the bellwether pool, as long as they also have one of those three cancer diagnoses, according to an order issued by Judge Rowland last month.
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.