Federal multidistrict litigation tracker

MDL 3060 Update — Hair Relaxer Lawsuit

In re: Hair Relaxer Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation. Counts are monthly JPML snapshots and can change between reports.

Lawsuit status — September 2026

Hair Relaxer Lawsuit

Verified September 14, 2026

MDL: MDL-3060
Court: N.D. Ill.
Judge: Judge Mary M. Rowland
Pending cases: 12,129; +350 since prior report
Current phase: Active discovery and settlement coordination
Settlement status: no global program verified
Latest development: JPML reports 12,129 pending actions and 16,561 historical actions in MDL-3060.
Next major event: September 29, 2026 — Second-wave written responses due

What changed this month?

●JPML reports 12,129 pending actions and 16,561 historical actions in MDL-3060. Source
●Pending actions increased by 350 from 11,779 on August 3, 2026. This is a net docket change, not a count of new claims. Source
●CMO 24 sets a second-wave defendant discovery schedule, including September 29 responses and July 15, 2027 oral fact discovery. Source
●The settlement special master appointment does not itself signal an imminent settlement, CMO 17 explains. Source

MDL details

Created: February 6, 2023
Pending: 12,129
Total actions filed: 16,561
Monthly change: +350

Defendants named in the tracked record

L'Oreal USA, Inc.; Revlon, Inc.; Namaste Laboratories, LLC; Strength of Nature Global, LLC; SoftSheen-Carson LLC. Defendants dispute the allegations.

Historical case counts

Report	Pending	Total filed
September 1, 2026	12,129	16,561
August 3, 2026	11,779	16,199
June 1, 2026	11,723	—

What the litigation alleges

The tracked claims concern chemical hair product / failure-to-warn injury claim, including uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, and related gynecologic injuries. These are allegations; defendants dispute liability and causation.

Stage and bellwether status

CMO 24, filed August 27, 2026, sets discovery deadlines for specifically named second-wave defendants through July 15, 2027. Those deadlines do not apply to every defendant and are not trial dates. CMO 17 appointed a settlement special master but expressly cautions that the appointment does not signal the likelihood or timing of a settlement. Defendants dispute liability and causation.

Settlement status

The court documents reviewed on September 14, 2026, including CMO 24 and CMO 17, do not establish a global settlement or payout schedule. CMO 17 authorizes settlement coordination and expressly warns against inferring timing or likelihood from the appointment.

Individual claims: No official per-person payout verified.