Is There a Hair Relaxer Fibroids Lawsuit?
Yes, there is a hair relaxer fibroids lawsuit. Women who developed uterine fibroids after years of using chemical hair relaxers have filed claims against the manufacturers. In November 2024, the court set fibroid-only cases aside so the cancer cases could go to trial first. But you could still be eligible to file in 2026.
You may have gone through years of treatment, lost time from work, and paid medical bills for a condition no one warned you about. If your fibroids led to surgery, yours may be one of the strongest claims, and you should not have to guess whether it counts. Our attorneys at Uptown Injury Law, PLLC, review your diagnosis, your product history, and your deadline for free, and confirm whether you qualify to file. Call 917-540-8728 to get a free consultation.
Is There a Lawsuit for Fibroids Caused by Hair Relaxers?
Yes, there is an active lawsuit for fibroids caused by hair relaxers, and it is part of the largest cosmetics litigation in the country. Thousands of women have sued the hair relaxer manufacturers. The courts centralized these thousands of individual lawsuits into a federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) in Illinois, known as MDL 3060.
Plaintiffs argue that the hair relaxer companies knew their chemical hair straighteners could harm women and sold them anyway, without a warning on the box.
Within that litigation, the court divided the cases into two groups. The cancer claims are heading to trial first, while the fibroid cases took a separate route in 2024. You can still file a fibroid case as an individual lawsuit.
Here is where the litigation stands today:
| The Lawsuit at a Glance | As of September 2026 |
|---|---|
| Where is the case being heard? | Federal court in Chicago (Northern District of Illinois), before Judge Mary Rowland |
| How many victims have filed? | 12,129 lawsuits, with L’Oréal as the lead defendant |
| Which injuries go to trial first? | Uterine, endometrial, and ovarian cancer |
| What stage is it at? | Both sides are gathering evidence; the first test trials are expected in 2027 |
| Has anyone been paid? | No, there is no settlement yet |
Were the Hair Relaxer Fibroid Lawsuits Dismissed?
Yes, the fibroid lawsuits were dismissed, but you did not lose your right to sue. The court used a dismissal called “without prejudice,” which means you can file these legal claims again.
In fact, the victims’ own lawyers asked for this dismissal. Proving fibroids and proving cancer require different medical experts, and handling both in the same trials would have slowed everything down.
However, the dismissal did not pause your filing deadline. Your state’s clock kept running, and that is why waiting for the hair relaxer MDL to finish can cost you your right to file.
How Can You File a Fibroid Claim in 2026?
You can file a hair relaxer fibroids lawsuit in 2026 in one of three ways, whether your case was dismissed or you have never filed at all:
- File an individual lawsuit. Your case moves forward on its own in state or federal court, under your state’s law.
- File with a cancer diagnosis. If cancer followed your fibroids, your claim joins the hair relaxer cancer lawsuit track, which is fully active.
- File as a surgical case. If fibroids led to a hysterectomy or myomectomy, lawyers review these claims one by one, because surgery shows how serious your injury was.
Can Hair Relaxers Cause Uterine Fibroids?
Yes, medical research links chemical hair relaxers to uterine fibroids. The 2012 Black Women’s Health Study followed more than 23,000 women for over a decade. It linked hair relaxer use to an increased rate of fibroid diagnosis: women who used chemical hair relaxers were 1.17 times more likely to be diagnosed, and the risk grew with heavier and longer use.
The scientific evidence goes beyond fibroids. The NIH-funded Sister Study produced the most cited hair relaxer uterine cancer finding. Women who used these products more than four times a year faced a 2.5 times higher risk of uterine cancer.
How Do Hair Relaxer Chemicals Trigger Fibroid Growth?
Hair relaxer chemicals trigger fibroid growth through hormone disruption, and it works in three ways:
- Endocrine disruptors: Hair relaxer chemicals include phthalates and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that act like estrogen inside your body. Because fibroids feed on estrogen, these chemicals can fuel their growth.
- Scalp burns: Burns during application raise the exposure, since broken skin absorbs hair straightening chemicals more easily.
- Formaldehyde: The FDA warns that some chemical hair straightening products release it when heated, adding to the cancer risks these products carry.
Why Are Black Women Filing Most of These Lawsuits?
Black women file most of these hair relaxer lawsuits because they carry both the highest exposure and the highest risk. They are roughly three times more likely to develop fibroids than white women, and they tend to start relaxer use earlier. For decades, they were also the primary market for these hair products, which is why so many African American women are now part of this litigation.
Researchers have linked frequent hair relaxer use to reproductive problems, and the heavy bleeding that fibroids cause can drain your iron until anemia sets in. You may have needed years of medical treatment for these symptoms before anyone connected them to the products you used.
Which Diagnoses Qualify for the Hair Relaxer Lawsuit?
Fibroid diagnoses qualify for the hair relaxer lawsuit through individual case review in 2026. Uterine, endometrial, and ovarian cancer remain on the active MDL trial track. Meanwhile, fibroids that later became cancer join the cancer claims. Fibroids without surgery carry referral options that depend on your case.
“Individual case review” means an attorney checks whether your state’s law, your evidence, and your deadline support a standalone case. So it is not a waiting list, and the answer usually takes days, not months.
Besides your diagnosis, your product history carries equal weight. Specifically, fibroid claims involve regular, multi-year use of chemical hair relaxer products. In fact, the brands are the same hair relaxing products named in the cancer cases: Dark & Lovely, Optimum, Just for Me, and ORS Olive Oil, among others. Also, salon application counts, childhood use counts, and switching brands over the years do not weaken your claim. If you are not sure your history fits, one free call confirms whether you are eligible to file a chemical hair relaxer lawsuit.
Above all, surgery strengthens a fibroid claim more than any other factor. This is because more severe symptoms lead to more treatment and larger documented losses. As a result, a hysterectomy linked to hair relaxer use receives the closest review, because it documents a permanent injury. In the end, whichever way your diagnosis falls, the same records will decide your claim.
What Evidence Proves a Hair Relaxer Fibroids Claim?
A hair relaxer fibroids lawsuit rests on two sets of records: proof of your diagnosis and proof of your product use. So gather these five before your case review:
- Diagnosis and pathology records: The imaging, biopsy, or pathology report confirming your uterine fibroid diagnosis, with dates. If you no longer have copies, our attorneys will request them directly from your providers.
- Surgical records: Hysterectomy or myomectomy reports are the strongest proof of how serious your injury became. Also, our hair relaxer lawyers obtain the complete operative file, not just the discharge summary.
- Treatment history: Medical records showing how your doctors treat uterine fibroids, plus the medical bills that came with them. In addition, our legal team compiles both into one damages file that the defense cannot pick apart.
- Product-use history: The brands you used, how often, and for how many years. Then our attorneys turn what you remember into a sworn account that holds up in court.
- Photos and personal records: Pictures of you with relaxed hair across the years, salon records, and receipts if any survived. Whatever you have, our lawyers build the rest around it.
Do not worry if the receipts are long gone. Manufacturers now demand purchase proof and product containers that victims discarded decades ago. Yet courts understand that no one keeps 20 years of product packaging.
Instead, sworn statements about your use, photographs, salon records, and family members who remember your routine fill that gap. The sooner you document and preserve evidence for a hair relaxer lawsuit, the less those missing receipts matter.
Is the Hair Relaxer Fibroids Lawsuit a Class Action?
No, the hair relaxer fibroids lawsuit is a multidistrict litigation (MDL), not a relaxer class action lawsuit, and the difference decides what your claim can be worth. In a class action, everyone splits one settlement and receives a similar share, no matter how badly each person was hurt. In an MDL, each victim’s claim is valued on her own injuries and her own evidence. So if your fibroids required surgery, your claim can recover far more than a claim for milder injuries.
How Long Do You Have to File a Hair Relaxer Fibroids Claim?
Your deadline to file a hair relaxer fibroids claim depends on your state, so no single filing period applies to every victim. Most states allow two to three years. The date your clock started matters more than the number of years.
This is where the discovery rule protects you. In New York, CPLR § 214-c starts your three years on the date you discovered that a toxic exposure caused your injury. The same applies if you reasonably should have discovered it earlier. The clock does not start when you used the product. Maybe you connected your fibroids to relaxer use only after the studies and lawsuits made headlines. If so, your deadline may have started at that discovery, not at your diagnosis.
Meanwhile, refiled hair relaxer cases run on their own schedules, which is one more reason to have a lawyer check your dates against the hair relaxer lawsuit statute of limitations.
Important Note: An old fibroid diagnosis does not automatically disqualify you. Under the discovery rule, your deadline may still be open even if your diagnosis or surgery happened years ago. Have a lawyer confirm your dates before you assume you are out of time.
Has the Hair Relaxer Lawsuit Settled, and What Could a Claim Be Worth?
The hair relaxer lawsuit has not reached a global settlement, and the court has approved no settlement payouts as of September 2026. Still, here is how the projected hair relaxer settlement amounts break down:
| Claim Type | Projected Range |
|---|---|
| All hair relaxer claims | $100,000 – $1,500,000 |
| Uterine cancer claims | $150,000 – $750,000 |
| Fibroid claims | No established amount yet |
Fibroid claims have no set amount because no fibroid case has been tried or settled. Your actual amount will depend on how severe your injuries are and how well your case is documented, and the 2027 bellwether trials will set the first real benchmarks.
Even so, filing early matters. A case filed and documented now will be first in line when settlement programs open. Whatever the final numbers, a successful claim covers your medical expenses, lost income, physical pain, and the impact on your fertility and daily life.
What Are the Latest Updates on Hair Relaxer Fibroid Lawsuits?
The latest updates on hair relaxer fibroid lawsuits are Arizona’s September 2026 lawsuit against L’Oreal and the court’s selection of ten cases for the first trials in 2027. For fibroid claims specifically, the most important ruling came from Georgia in October 2025.
The state’s Supreme Court revived a victim’s fibroid case against L’Oreal and Strength of Nature, holding that each new purchase of a relaxer can restart the legal clock. So even if you started using relaxers decades ago, your claim may still be alive.
Beyond that ruling, here is what else has changed as of September 2026:
- Ten cases go to trial first, starting in 2027. The court chose them in May 2026, and all ten involve cancer claims. Their verdicts will guide settlement talks for every claim, fibroids included.
- The court is deciding which medical experts can testify. These experts will tell juries whether relaxers cause these injuries, and the stronger the science a jury hears, the stronger every woman’s case becomes.
- Arizona has sued L’Oreal. In September 2026, the state accused the company of hiding the links between its relaxers and uterine and ovarian cancers, adding government pressure to the thousands of private claims.
- New claims are still being filed every month, so filing now does not make you late. There is no settlement fund and no sign-up deadline, and any ad telling you to register by a certain date is not telling the truth. The only real deadlines are your state’s filing deadlines.
Each of these milestones can change what your claim is worth and how long you have to file, which is why it helps to have a lawyer who tracks them for you.
Contact Our Hair Relaxer Lawyers for a Free Fibroid Case Review
Most fibroid claims are not lost in court. They are lost before filing, when deadlines expire, records go missing, and wrong information convinces victims they have no case.
That is why mass tort cases call for product liability lawyers, not general practice. Proving decades of product use, working with the medical experts, and choosing the right court for an individual fibroid case all demand experience against major manufacturers. Our attorneys at Uptown Injury Law, PLLC are part of the hair relaxer litigation today, filing and preparing claims while the first trials approach.
We are accepting hair relaxer cases nationwide, working from our office at 2417 Third Ave, Suite 505, Bronx, NY 10451. Wherever you live, we connect by phone or video, and we are available 24/7.
Call 917-540-8728 today for your free case review. You pay nothing unless we win.
FAQs
Has Anyone Been Paid From the Hair Relaxer Lawsuit?
No, as of September 2026, no plaintiff has received payment from the hair relaxer lawsuit. The first bellwether trials should begin in 2027, and settlements usually follow trial results. Filing now still matters, though, because your statute of limitations runs no matter when payouts begin.
Can You Sue for Fibroids if You Never Developed Cancer?
Yes, you can. The court dismissed fibroid-only claims from the MDL without prejudice, which preserves them rather than ending them. You can pursue yours as an individual lawsuit under state law. Whether your claim is worth filing depends on your use history, your treatment, and your deadline.
Does a Myomectomy Qualify, or Only a Hysterectomy?
Both surgeries strengthen a claim when uterine fibroids caused them. A myomectomy removes the fibroids, while a hysterectomy removes the uterus, but each one documents a serious injury with surgical records. Attorneys review both case by case. Surgery is not an absolute requirement, but it makes causation and damages far easier to prove.
What if You Don’t Remember Which Relaxer Brand You Used?
You can still file. Courts accept sworn statements about your product use, photographs of your relaxed hair over the years, and salon records. Statements from family members who remember your routine also count. You do not need receipts or product boxes, and using several brands over the years does not weaken your claim.
Are Uterine Fibroids Cancer?
No, uterine fibroids are non cancerous tumors, but they still support a legal claim. Heavy menstrual periods, pelvic pain, anemia, and infertility are compensable injuries, and severe symptoms that demand aggressive treatment increase a claim’s value. If you were later diagnosed with uterine or endometrial cancer, your case moves to the cancer track instead.
Is It Too Late if Your Fibroids Were Diagnosed Years Ago?
Not necessarily. Under the discovery rule, your deadline may run from when you learned relaxers could have caused your fibroids, not from your diagnosis date. Like many plaintiffs, you may have made that connection only after the 2022 studies made national news. A lawyer can confirm your exact deadline in minutes.
Do Texturizers or Keratin Treatments Count as Hair Relaxers?
Texturizers are milder chemical relaxers and may qualify, since they change hair structure the same way. Keratin treatments and Brazilian blowouts are different cosmetic products, though the FDA has flagged them for formaldehyde exposure. If you used any chemical straightening product regularly, mention it during your case review.
