Attorney Danielle Ward Mason of Singleton Schreiber LLP helped secure a major victory for plaintiff Kiara Burroughs as the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously reversed a Georgia Court of Appeals ruling that had barred her lawsuit alleging that chemicals in L’Oréal and Strength of Nature hair relaxers caused her to develop uterine fibroids. The justices held that the state’s 10-year statute of repose for product liability claims resets with each new purchase of a product, rejecting the lower court’s interpretation that the clock began with the plaintiff’s first purchase decades ago. Writing for the court, Justice Andrew A. Pinson explained that treating multiple sales of similar products as a single group under one time limit was inconsistent with both statutory language and prior rulings.
The decision means Burroughs’ case can move forward because some of the relaxers she purchased were sold within the 10-year window before she filed suit. The justices cautioned, however, that proving which specific products caused her injuries will be difficult, as Burroughs must link her condition to relaxers purchased during that period. Still, the opinion underscores an important clarification of Georgia law, affirming that each sale of a product to a consumer is independently subject to the statute of repose.
