Wen Hair Products Class Action Lawsuit

A class action lawsuit was filed in December 2015 against Wen Hair Products and the manufacturer Guthy-Renker after thousands of women complained of hair loss after using Wen Products. The popular infomercial hair care brand allegedly includes severe and possibly permanent Wen Hair Loss. Other Wen side effects include rash and burning eyes.

The Wen line of products is designed and sold by Los Angeles celebrity hair stylist Chaz Dean, and manufactured by Guthy-Renker LLC. WEN is based in California and the Wen website claims all products are manufactured in the United States.

The defendants claim that their Wen hair products, namely the 5-in-1 sulfate-free Cleansing Conditioners, condition the hair and limit or repair damage caused by regular hair treatments and daily styling. Despite thousands of complaints, Wen still gets overwhelmingly positive reviews. For instance, its "weet Almond"conditioner currently has 2,654 Amazon reviews, 60 percent of which rate four or five stars.

Plaintiffs in the Wen Defective Products Class Action claim that the 5-in-1 sulfate-free Cleansing Conditioners caused them significant hair loss and scalp burns. They also allege that Wen failed to warn consumers of the risks and dangers associated with the products quickly enough once consumers began complaining of the hazards. Amy Friedman is lead plaintiff in the WEN class action. After watching a WEN infomercial, Friedman purchased the Sweet Almond Mint WEN Cleansing Conditioner basic kit in January 2015. She claims that two weeks after using the product she began to lose substantial amounts of hair and has now lost up to 30 percent of the hair on her head.

The lawsuit is charging WEN with violating the California false advertising law, violating the Florida Unfair and Deceptive trade Practices Act, negligence and failure to warn, among other things. The lawsuit also claims that Guthy-Renker had "knowledge of a material design defect [and did not] disclose and/or warn plaintiff and other consumers that Wen Cleansing Conditioner can and does cause substantial hair loss [and that] Guthy-Renker concealed customers' comments concerning hair loss, by blocking and/or erasing such comments from the WEN Facebook page."

Wen is also accused of removing negative reviews on social media instead of addressing them. Wen complaints on consumer websites date back at least five years. The WEN Cleansing Conditioner Class Action Lawsuit is Amy Friedman v. Guthy-Renker LLC, Case No. 2:14-cv-MRP-AGR, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Along with hair loss—to the extent of causing visible bald spots-- women have reported severe and possibly permanent damage to hair, hair breakage, scalp irritation, scalp rash and burning eyes. One customer reported continual hair loss for three weeks after discontinuing the product.

The FDA has received more than 17,000 complaints from Wen customers complaining of the above side effects. So many hair loss complaints triggered questions from House Representative Frank Pallone regarding the regulation of personal care products. He sent letters at the beginning of June to the FDA and to Georg Richter, the president and CEO of the product's manufacturer, asking why consumers are complaining of Wen side effects. According to The Hill (Jun 3, 2016), Pallone has asked the FDA the following:

• When and how it first became aware of the safety issues associated with WEN Cleaning Conditioner.
• What steps, if any, it took to address those issues and what information Guthy-Renker has shared with the agency.
• Whether it had access to any of the company' safety records.
• If it has conducted any inspections.
• If it has requested a product recall.
• If it has sufficient authority now to oversee the product.

Pallone has requested manufacturer Georg Richter the following:

• A briefing with staffers "as soon as possible."
• Copies of commissioned assessments, documents related to product testing.
• A detailed timeline of the company' interactions and communications with the FDA.
• All communications from the company relating to the potential side effects or safety issues with WEN products.

According to a national survey released in February 2016 by the Environmental Working Group, 87 percent of voting Americans want stricter regulation of personal care products. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Susan Collins (a California Democrat and Maine Republican) are pushing forward the Personal Care Products Safety Act that would update the 80-year-old Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act. This law is intended to guarantee the safety of cosmetics—a $189 billion a year industry. This new act would require companies such as WEN to ensure that products are safe before putting them on the market and it would give the FDA tools for enforcing this.

WEN Hair Loss Legal Help

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Last updated on Jun-16-16