Wen Lawsuit Grows To 200, Including Parents On Behalf Of Children
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - A mass action lawsuit against popular hair product, WEN by Chaz Dean and company Guthy-Renker, has now grown to include 200 people.
The lawsuit, which represents plaintiffs from 40 states claims WEN causes hair to fall out, thin or break.
Texas is the state with the most number of victims and the lawsuit includes parents on behalf of their children.
"That's the saddest part for me. The kiddos we represent have lost nearly all of their hair," said Davis.
Davis said she gets calls every week from WEN customers and 50 additional Wen users have retained her.
WEN was created by celebrity stylist Chaz Dean and endorsed by celebrities including Alyssa Milano and Brooke Shields.
WEN promises to transform your hair and is meant to replace your shampoo, conditioner, leave-in conditioner and de-tangler.
"The thing I love about WEN, you don't have to gamble am I going to have a good hair day," said Dean on one of his infomercials.
Susan Browning of Dallas said using WEN caused her hair to come up in clumps.
"In the shower when i squeezed the water out of my hair, I'd have handfuls of hair coming out," said Browning.
Susan said she bought the $40 product because she has fine hair.
"I had seen his infomercials and it promised fuller, thicker hair," said Browning.
Eight months into using it she said she was balding from the top down.
Some users on-line report similar experiences.
Davis believes it's the consistency of WEN at the root of the problem.
"What we understand about the product and how it causes hair loss is it contains virtually no cleanser," Davis said. "It's like using lotion to wash your hair, so instead of removing the product, when you rinse it off, it just becomes impacted in your hair follicle."
Dean and Guthy-Renker released this statement to CBS11:
"We take great pride in the quality of our products and believe every product meets our high standards. We want all of our customers to have positive experiences with our products. With well over 10 million WEN products shipped since 2008, our customers' overwhelmingly positive response to WEN is a testament to the benefits it can deliver for its users. These benefits are reflected in consistently high rankings from independent consumer product sites as well. Importantly, there is no scientific evidence to support any claim that our hair care products caused anyone to lose their hair. There are many reasons why individuals may lose their hair, all unrelated to WEN hair products. We intend to vigorously contest the allegations made against our products. And, we encourage any customer with any questions to contact us."
A federal judge has issued a stay in the case, and the parties are proceeding to mediation.
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