News

Chicago, Ill. –

Wallace Miller, the Chicago-based nationwide Plaintiffs law firm with extensive experience representing clients harmed by dangerous and defective products, announced the filing of a new lawsuit against L’Oreal and similarly situated Defendants over allegations that the company’s hair relaxer products may increase the likelihood of developing uterine cancer and other health risks.

According to studies performed by the National Institutes of Health, women who use chemical hair straightening/relaxing products are more than twice as likely to develop uterine or endometrial cancer. Molly Wells, an attorney for Wallace Miller, said “This case didn’t start and doesn’t end with the NIH study – there is a whole body of medical literature from the last several decades linking other conditions to hair relaxers including ovarian cancer, endometriosis, and uterine fibroids.”

The lawsuit, Moore v. L’Oreal USA, Inc, et al, Case Number 1:22-cv-06785 filed in the Northern District of Illinois, alleges that Plaintiff Terry Moore’s diagnosis of uterine cancer was directly and proximately caused by her regular and prolonged exposure to phthalates and other endocrine disrupting chemicals found in Defendants’ hair care products.

The number of new cases of uterine cancer diagnosed in the United States has risen in recent years, particularly among Black women. Black women have historically used hair relaxing products at a higher rate than other races, and many of these products are aggressively marketed toward women of color. The American Cancer Society estimates approximately 66,000 new cases of uterine cancer will be diagnosed by the end of 2022.

Plaintiffs seek to recover compensatory damages for their injuries, as well as economic, punitive, and/or exemplary damages for Defendants’ alleged disregard and reckless indifference for the safety and welfare of the general public.

Plaintiff in this case is represented by Molly C. Wells and Edward A. Wallace of Wallace Miller. More information is available at http://www.wallacemiller.com

About Wallace Miller

Wallace Miller is a is a nationally recognized plaintiffs’ complex litigation law firm focusing on protecting people in virtually all aspects of their lives. Their passionate group of attorneys and professionals have dedicated their careers to pursuing challenging cases and fighting on behalf of consumers, individuals, classes of people, and small businesses against some of the largest companies in the world.

Media Contact

Molly C. Wells, Wallace Miller, (312) 629-4407, mcw@wallacemiller.com

On October 27, 2022, U.S. District Court Judge M. Casey Rodgers, overseeing the mass tort MDL, entered an order staying, or pausing, the litigation as it relates to the wave orders and trial preparations. Judge Rodgers stated that the goal of this temporary stay is to allow for “both sides to fully engage in settlement negotiations” by “conserving the parties judicial resources.” Beginning this month, the Court ordered that the parties must convene for monthly settlement conferences.

This follows previous developments from August 2022, in which Judge Jeffrey J. Graham, who is overseeing the 3M bankruptcy proceedings in the Southern District of Indiana, declined to extend the automatic litigation stay to 3M and held that 3M earplugs claimants can continue to litigate their claims against 3M. Subsequently, 3M filed an appeal of Judge Graham’s ruling.

Judge Rodgers barred 3M from bringing issues which she has already resolved to bankruptcy court, referencing 3M’s “dissatisfaction with the MDL system, and this court’s legal rulings and multiple jury verdicts against it.” Judge Rodgers also ordered that mediation continue, and conferences were held on September 15 and 16, 2022 with no resolution.

We hope this stay and the ordered conferences will provide for a favorable resolution in this litigation, but that is yet to be seen and we will continue to update once there are further developments. We are diligently working on pushing these cases forward and holding 3M accountable.

To read Judge Rodger’s order in full, click here.

On September 1, 2022, United States Administrative Judge Lisette Shiradan-Harris granted Plaintiff’s petition to coordinate Pennsylvania Elmiron Products Liability cases as a mass tort program in Philadelphia. This order allows all currently filed Elmiron matters to be transferred to the Complex Litigation Center to be coordinated under Master Docket number 220200209. Wallace Miller is proud to represent plaintiffs in this litigation. Read more on our work in the Elmiron litigation here.