Arizona sues L’Oreal, alleging concealment of hair relaxer cancer risks

Sept 11 (Reuters) – Arizona has filed a lawsuit against L’Oreal SA and its U.S. subsidiary, accusing the cosmetics company of hiding evidence that its hair relaxer products could cause cancer in women, as it faces thousands of comparable claims from users and their families.

Democratic Arizona Attorney General Kristin Mayes filed the suit late Thursday in state court, making Arizona the first state to sue over alleged cancer risks tied to hair relaxers. The lawsuit claims L’Oreal violated state consumer protection laws by marketing the products, used predominantly by African American women, without warning consumers about the alleged risks of ovarian and uterine cancers.

Arizona is seeking penalties and damages and is also asking for a court order that would force L’Oreal to stop selling the products unless it warns of the cancer risk.

The lawsuit alleges that by marketing the products to women and children over decades, L’Oreal and associated companies “exploited centuries of social pressures and discriminatory beauty standards affecting people of African descent, all while prioritizing profit over consumer safety.”

The case comes as the company faces more than 12,000 similar lawsuits filed by women or their families, consolidated in a Chicago federal court as part of a multidistrict litigation proceeding, a procedure intended to manage lawsuits filed in multiple jurisdictions more efficiently.

A spokesperson for L’Oreal USA said the company is confident in the safety of its products and believes the claims lack legal or scientific merit.

Marketed under names including Dark and Lovely, Optimum and other brands, the products promise to permanently straighten textured hair.

The first lawsuits were filed after the 2022 release of a National Institutes of Health study that found women who used the products several times a year were more than twice as likely to develop uterine cancer.

L’Oreal’s spokesperson said Friday that the study did not find a causal connection between use of the products and any conditions alleged by the plaintiffs.

The lawsuits seek damages to compensate the women for pain and suffering, as well as economic damages for medical bills, the cost of the products and other expenses.

The lawsuits name L’Oreal, along with Revlon and other makers of the products. Revlon has also denied a link between cancer and the products.

Court records show the multidistrict litigation continues to advance, and trials could begin next year.