Georgia Supreme Court Allows Hair Relaxer Lawsuit Despite 10-Year Limit
The Georgia Supreme Court has ruled that the use of hair relaxers more than a decade ago cannot be the basis for a lawsuit against companies that stopped producing them during that period. The decision has implications for both plaintiffs and defendants in such cases.
The case in question involves a woman who began using hair relaxers in 1995 and was later diagnosed with uterine fibroids in 2018. She filed her lawsuit in 2022, more than 10 years after she had stopped using the products. The companies being sued had also ceased production during this time.
The Georgia Supreme Court's ruling is a setback for defendants who had hoped that new laws aimed at improving the state's judicial system would work in their favor. However, the court agreed with the plaintiff's argument that each use of the product restarted the 10-year clock for filing a lawsuit. This interpretation contradicts the defendants' argument that the word 'first' in the statute of repose refers to the initial sale of the product, not each subsequent use.
The Georgia Supreme Court's decision allows the lawsuit against hair-relaxing product manufacturers to proceed, despite the 10-year statute of repose having passed. This ruling may have implications for similar cases in the future, highlighting the complex nature of product liability laws and their interpretation.
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