There is no global hair-relaxer settlement to claim before December. The December dates are case deadlines in MDL No. 3060, the federal case grouping thousands of hair-relaxer injury suits for pretrial rulings.
Fob & Foster reported in its hair-relaxer lawsuit update that no global settlement, verdict, or payout matrix existed as of early November 2026. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation reported 12,743 pending actions and 17,018 total actions before Judge Mary M. Rowland in Illinois.
Official resources:
- Read the original report from Uscourts — Use this primary source to review the complete report.
- Read the official notice from Dicellolevitt — Use this primary source to verify the official announcement.
Table of Contents
- Is any settlement money available?
- What closes on December 21?
- Do December 30 and 31 block new claims?
- Who is affected and what evidence matters?
- What happens next in 2027?
Is any settlement money available?
Fob & Foster says settlement talks are coordinated by Special Master Ellen Reisman. Any dollar figure now is speculation, not an approved payout.
That means there is no claim form for a set amount. Readers should not delay needed legal review while waiting for a fund announcement.
What closes on December 21?
MDL Update reports in its MDL 3060 case tracker that case-specific expert discovery for the final five bellwether cases closes Dec. 21, 2026. Bellwether cases are test cases chosen to show how evidence plays at trial.
MDL Update says the pool was narrowed from ten cases by about Oct. 21, 2026. The expert reports and depositions in those five cases will shape later trial and settlement decisions.
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Do December 30 and 31 block new claims?
Schmidt & Clark explains in its Bantu hair-relaxer lawsuit page that the Dec. 30 and Dec. 31, 2026 dates govern only refiling or conversion to dismissal with prejudice for already-filed cases dismissed for noncompliance. They are cleanup deadlines for dismissed cases, not a new-claim filing cutoff.
New claims face state filing limits instead. Fob & Foster lists 1 year in Tennessee and Kentucky, 2 years in California, Georgia and Ohio, and 3 years in North Carolina and D.C. People who think they qualify should check their state limit now. An MDL calendar date does not extend that state period.
Who is affected and what evidence matters?
Fob & Foster describes affected plaintiffs mainly as users alleging uterine, ovarian, or endometrial injury against makers including L'Oreal, Revlon and SoftSheen-Carson. Product history, diagnosis records, and timing matter for case review. The National Institutes of Health described the finding in its Sister Study notice from a study of 33,497 women followed about 11 years. Frequent straightener use, defined as more than four times in the prior year, carried 4.05% uterine-cancer risk by age 70 versus 1.64% in never-users.
DiCello Levitt reported that Judge Rowland denied defendants' move to exclude plaintiffs' epidemiology expert Dr. Cote on general causation for uterine and ovarian cancer in a 65-page Oct. 22, 2026 order. Useful records to gather are:.
- diagnosis and treatment dates for uterine, ovarian, or endometrial injury
- relaxer brands used, where bought, and years of use
- state where exposure and diagnosis occurred, for the filing limit
What happens next in 2027?
MDL Update says summary-judgment and case-specific Rule 702 motions are due Jan. 11, 2027. Those motions ask the court to limit experts or decide cases without trial.
The first bellwether trial is set for Sept. 7, 2027, reportedly against L'Oreal USA. Keep product receipts, boxes, photos, and medical records in one place while the court decides those motions.
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