As hair care product makers move forward toward possible trials or settlements to begin resolving thousands of lawsuits claiming hair straightening products caused cancer, trial lawyers have begun to open a new front against some of those same companies with new lawsuits now leveling similar cancer claims on behalf of hair stylists and perhaps others who worked with hair dyes.
In recent weeks, lawyers from large plaintiffs' firms have filed lawsuits in California courts.
In January, attorneys from two prominent firms specializing in so-called "toxic torts" - attorneys Allen Smith Jr., of The Smith Law Firm, of Mississippi, and Andrew Parker Felix, of Morgan & Morgan, of Los Angeles - filed suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court against a an assortment of hair care and cosmetic product makers, including L'Oreal, Matrix Professional, Redken, Wella, Clairol, Procter & Gamble, Henkel, John Paul Mitchell Systems and others.
That lawsuit was filed on behalf of named plaintiff Hector Corvera, identified as a hair stylist in Tulare County.
According to the complaint, Corvera has worked as a hair stylist and licensed cosmetologist since 1981. According to the complaint, Corvera was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2023. In the complaint, Corvera claims the cancer was caused by his exposure over decades to hair coloring products made by those companies, which he used to dye customers' hair.
The complaint asserts the hair dyes contained "unreasonably dangerous" carcinogenic chemicals, which the companies allegedly knew of.
The lawsuit particularly blames exposure to large amounts of so-called "aromatic amines," or chemicals which are readily found in a wide range of commonly used products. However, in larger quantities, the complaint and other sources indicate the chemicals could become carcinogens or endocrine disruptors, causing cancer and other illnesses.
The complaint asserts commonly used hair dyes contain large amounts of an aromatic amine known as 4-aminobiphenyl.
Corvera's complaint and other sources assert increased exposure to that particular chemical can significantly increase the risk of developing cancer.
Other lawsuits have followed Corvera's filing.
In early March, lawyers from another prominent plaintiffs' firm, DiCello Levitt, of San Diego, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against some of those same companies.
Defendants on the new lawsuit included L'Oreal, Henkel and Wella.
Their lawsuit was filed on behalf of named plaintiff Debra Matarazzo, of New Jersey. According to the complaint, Matarazzo worked as a hair stylist and cosmetologist at a salon in the community of Brick, New Jersey, over 11 years, beginning in 1988. According to the complaint, Matarazzo performed as many as 75-100 hair coloring applications per week during her career.
Matarazzo was also diagnosed with bladder cancer, and, like Corvera, blames her exposure to chemicals in the hair dyes she used on a near daily basis for allegedly causing her illness.
The lawsuits, which level similar claims, also seek orders forcing the companies to pay unspecified money damages to the plaintiffs.
"We are dedicated to holding these companies accountable for their actions and getting justice for our client who had to endure grueling chemotherapy and surgery to treat her bladder cancer," said attorney Diandra “Fu” Debrosse, who is representing Matarazzzo and helps lead the DiCello Levitt firm's Mass Tort Litigation Practice Group. "Ms. Matarazzo is only the first of many who are likely to come forward who sadly have suffered from similar diagnoses and harm. We hope our efforts can prevent such corporate negligence both in product design and marketing in the future and will fight vigorously with that in mind.”
The hair dye lawsuits follow on the heels of a growing mass of thousands of lawsuits against L'Oreal and many of those same hair care product manufacturers, brought on behalf of women who claim so-called hair relaxer products also caused cancer.
Nearly 9,500 hair relaxer lawsuits have been filed in U.S. courts since 2021. Most have been centralized for consolidated proceedings in federal court in Chicago.
Debrosse and the DiCello Levitt firm have also been heavily involved in the hair relaxer litigation. Debrosse was named co-lead in the consolidated action against L’Oréal and the other companies in Chicago federal court. According to DiCello's release, Debrosse represents thousands of female clients who claim their use of hair relaxers allegedly caused them to develop uterine cancer.
Hundreds more hair relaxer lawsuits remain pending in state courts in Cook County, Illinois - which includes Chicago - and in Georgia, particularly, along with smaller groups in other state courts, including California.
More lawsuits continue to be filed, with more than 1,000 such complaints filed in the final months of 2024.
The lawsuits have been fueled by reports from the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Minority Health Sciences, asserting women who used hair relaxer products were at a significantly higher risk of contracting uterine and ovarian cancer.
The lawsuits have been brought primarily on behalf of thousands of black women who claim they contracted such cancers from their use of the hair relaxer products, allegedly driven by the American health and beauty industry and the greater white-majority society, in general, which allegedly encouraged black women to straighten naturally curly hair to "conform to Eurocentric beauty standards."
Courts to this point have mostly rejected attempts by the hair care product makers to dismiss those lawsuits.
In a joint filing entered in early February, attorneys for the plaintiffs and defendants indicated they are beginning the process of selecting mediators to perhaps move toward settlements.
In the meantime, they are also preparing for possible so-called "bellwether" trials - or trials in a select group of cases to allow the parties to determine the strength of their cases and defenses in court before juries. Often, outcomes of such bellwether trials help to shape eventual settlements.