Call Moll Law Group About Your Hair Relaxer Claim
The original deadline to institute the hair relaxer claims occurred in October after publication of a study that demonstrates a link between certain chemical hair relaxers and uterine cancer. However, United States Bankruptcy Judge David S. Jones extended the deadline to April 11, 2023. If you believe you have a claim, you can file it by this date. The judge acknowledged that most mass torts allow customers to file claims for more than a month-long window but doesn’t want to prolong the company’s exit from bankruptcy by pushing the deadline further out.
Revlon’s attorney, meanwhile, has said he doesn’t believe there is a connection between its product and cancer, and that, in fact, claimants should be vetted further. The company’s own representative did not comment on the NIH study, which examined data from almost 33,500 women to find that those who often used hair straightening products were more than twice as likely to get uterine cancer than those who didn’t. In the study, around 60% of the consumers who had straightened their hair chemically were Black women.
Last year, Revlon was in heavy debt to two lenders who also disputed the priority of their claims. Those disputes were recently settled in Revlon Inc., 22-10760, US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The settlement was supposed to allow Revlon to get out of bankruptcy and continue to operate under a restructuring plan. The plan called for them to give ownership of the company for lenders and raise new money to address debts. However, the number of hair relaxer claims against Revlon and other companies has grown significantly since the report was published.
If you developed uterine cancer and believe it is related to your use of Revlon hair relaxer, or another chemical hair straightener, it is imperative to talk to a product liability lawyer about whether you have a claim within the next few weeks. Product liability lawsuits allow consumers to recover damages for losses suffered as a result of a manufacturing, design (formulation) or marketing defects such as the ones that several different brands of hair relaxer appear to have. Our attorneys may be able to pursue relief on your behalf under different theories of recovery such as strict liability, negligence, breach of warranty, breach of contract, and statutory violations.
When our lawyers are able to establish liability in a hair relaxer case, we may be able to recover both economic and noneconomic damages such as medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, mental anguish and loss of enjoyment of life. If it can be shown that Revlon or another manufacturer of hair relaxers knew of the harm associated with their product, or should have known it, and egregiously failed to provide warnings or take other action to protect consumers, punitive damages may also be awarded.
Most women are not prepared to suffer uterine cancer because they straightened their hair. Call the seasoned Chicago-based product liability attorneys of Moll Law Group if you believe you have a hair relaxer claim. Give us a call at 312.462.1700 or via our online form.