L’Oréal faces more than 12,000 similar lawsuits filed by women or their families. Photograph: CFOTO/Future Publishing/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenL’Oréal faces more than 12,000 similar lawsuits filed by women or their families. Photograph: CFOTO/Future Publishing/Getty ImagesArizona accuses L’Oréal of concealing cancer risks linked to hair relaxersDemocratic attorney general seeks damages and penalties in legal action that echoes thousands of similar suits
Arizona has sued L’Oréal that the French cosmetics company hid evidence that its hair relaxer products could cause cancer in women – echoing thousands of similar lawsuits from users and their families.
Arizona attorney general Kristin Mayes, a Democrat, filed the lawsuit late on Thursday in state court. The lawsuit makes Arizona the first state to sue over alleged cancer risks linked to hair relaxers. It also alleges that L’Oréal is violating state consumer protection laws by marketing the hair relaxer products that are used predominantly by African American women without warning consumers about the alleged risks of ovarian and uterine cancers.
The state of Arizona is seeking penalties and damages, as well as a court order forcing L’Oreal to stop selling the products unless it warns of the cancer risk.
In marketing the products to women and children over decades, L’Oréal and associated companies “exploited centuries of social pressures and discriminatory beauty standards affecting people of African descent, all while prioritizing profit over consumer safety”, Arizona’s lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit comes as L’Oréal faces more than 12,000 similar lawsuits filed by women or their families that have been consolidated in a Chicago federal court as part of a multi-district litigation proceeding, a procedure designed to more efficiently manage lawsuits filed in multiple jurisdictions.
A spokesperson for L’Oréal did not immediately respond to a request for comment. L’Oréal has said its products are subject to rigorous safety reviews and the company is confident that the claims are without legal or scientific merit.
The products, which have been marketed under the names Dark and Lovely, Optimum and other brands, promise to permanently straighten textured hair.
The first lawsuits hit the docket after the 2022 release of a study done by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that found women who used the products several times a year were more than twice as likely to develop uterine cancer.
The lawsuits seek damages to compensate the women for their pain and suffering and economic damages for medical bills and the cost of the products, among other things.
The lawsuits name L’Oréal and Revlon and other makers of the products. Revlon has also denied a connection between cancer and the products.
The multi-district litigation continues to move forward, court records show, and trials could begin in 2027.
