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: 12,381; Count as of October 1, 2026 · Source; +252 since prior report
Current phase: Active discovery and settlement coordination
Settlement status: no global program verified
Latest development: JPML reports 12,381 pending actions in MDL-3060 on October 1, 2026, up 252 from 12,129 on September 1; 16,828 total historical actions are reported separately.
Next major event: July 15, 2027 — Second-wave oral fact discovery deadline

What changed this month?

●JPML reports 12,381 pending actions in MDL-3060 on October 1, 2026, up 252 from 12,129 on September 1; 16,828 total historical actions are reported separately. Source
●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: 12,381
Total actions filed: 16,828
Monthly change: +252

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
October 1, 2026	12,381	16,828
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.