Avon Talc Lawsuit: Liquidation Trust, Claims, and Verdicts

If you or a loved one developed mesothelioma, ovarian cancer, or lung cancer after using Avon talc-based powders, an Avon talc lawsuit is no longer something you file in civil court. Avon Products Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2024, and since October 7, 2025, all talc injury claims have been handled by the Avon Liquidation Trust under a court-approved claims process.¹

What the Avon Liquidation Trust Pays

The trust resolves claims through set compensation categories rather than jury trials. The amount depends on diagnosis and the type of review the claimant chooses.²

Mesothelioma, expedited review: a scheduled value of $10,000, available to claimants who can show regular exposure to Avon cosmetic talc for at least three years.
Mesothelioma, individual review: up to $3 million, based on an individualized assessment of the evidence submitted.
Other diseases: up to $6,000 for non-mesothelioma claimants who meet the trust’s diagnostic and exposure criteria.

Claims that were already settled before the bankruptcy, or that had been reduced to a jury verdict, are to be paid “as soon as practicable.” All other claims are paid in the order received.²

The bankruptcy court characterized the trust distribution procedures as a voluntary settlement between the trust and the claimant, not an adjudication of liability. If you disagree with the amount offered, you may pursue arbitration, but you cannot take the claim to court.³

Who Is Eligible to File

Only claims involving exposure to the debtors’ talc-cosmetic products in the United States or the United Kingdom are eligible for payment from the trust.² Claimants in the pre-bankruptcy litigation fell into several groups, and the trust reflects that same mix: women who used Avon body and perfumed powders for personal hygiene, children exposed to Avon Baby Talc, factory workers at Avon manufacturing plants, and Avon sales representatives who regularly handled the products.⁴

Avon’s international operations — spread across more than 50 countries — were not part of the Chapter 11 filing, and the U.S. Avon brand is owned by LG Household & Health Care Ltd. Those entities are not the source of trust funding, and the trust’s geographic scope is limited to U.S. and U.K. exposure.⁵

How to File a Claim

The Avon Liquidation Trust is administered by Hon. Melanie L. Cyganowski (Ret.), a former Chief Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of New York and now a partner at Otterbourg P.C.⁶ Stretto Inc. serves as the claims and noticing agent and maintains the official case information portal.¹

The trust has a finite life. It will dissolve at the earlier of five years after its creation or the point at which its assets are depleted.³ Because claims are paid first-in, first-out from a limited pool, timing matters.

Products Named in the Litigation

Avon talc-based powders identified in legal filings include:⁷

Bird of Paradise Perfumed Talc / Dusting Powder
Imari Perfumed Talc / Dusting Powder
Skin So Soft Satin Talc / Body Powder
Unforgettable Perfumed Talc / Dusting Powder
Night Magic Talcum / Dusting Powder
Wild Country Talc Powder
Sweet Honesty Talc
Charisma Dusting Powder
Odyssey Dusting Powder
Timeless Dusting Powder

One plaintiff described regular use of Bird of Paradise, Skin So Soft, and Unforgettable powders over more than 30 years, from the 1960s through the late 1990s.⁷ Avon stopped using talc in its North American products in 2020 and switched to cornstarch-based formulations, though the company may still use talc in products sold in other markets.⁴

What the Claims Allege

The lawsuits allege that Avon sold talc powders contaminated with asbestos without warning consumers. Talc deposits often form near asbestos, and mining one can bring up the other. Avon sourced its talc from Imerys, which operated the largest North American open-pit talc mine and mill in Three Forks, Montana; the contaminated talc has been linked to Luzenac subsidiaries, including Cyprus Mines.⁸

Internal Avon memos from 1971 and 1972 figured heavily in the trials. An October 1971 memo acknowledged asbestos in four talc sources, with concentrations reaching up to 12% tremolite. A January 1972 memo described one source as containing 20–25% tremolite and called it “very poor and possibly dangerous.” A March 1972 memo confirmed that multiple sources contained more than 1% tremolite asbestos, and Avon directed its laboratories to “exhaust their supplies.” By November 1972, the company stated internally that “samples of each of our current talcs will contain asbestos forms, particularly tremolite.”⁹

Why You Can No Longer Sue Avon Directly

On August 12, 2024, Avon Products Inc. and certain U.S. subsidiaries filed Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 24-11836) before Judge Craig T. Goldblatt.¹⁰⁴¹¹

The filing triggered an automatic stay that halted all individual talc lawsuits against Avon. The Fourth Amended Joint Chapter 11 Plan of Liquidation was confirmed on September 24, 2025, and the Avon Liquidation Trust became effective on October 7, 2025. All talc liabilities moved to the trust.¹

Insurance Disputes That Could Affect Payouts

The trust’s funding comes largely from the debtors’ insurance policies, together with other estate assets, including roughly $31 million in cash.⁴ During confirmation, multiple insurer groups objected, arguing that their policies could not be assigned without consent and that trust claim valuations should not bind them. Judge Goldblatt overruled the substantive objections but required that the plan not strip policy terms during the transfer, and the confirmation order is silent on whether it has any preclusive effect on future coverage litigation. Insurers can still contest their obligations in separate proceedings.²

Insurance coverage litigation remains active as of 2026. Insurers have sought to stay the confirmation order pending appeal; the trust and the advisory committee have opposed those efforts. An insurance entity injunction, which the court called essential to the plan, remains in place.

Pre-Bankruptcy Verdicts and What They Signal

Two verdicts anchored the pre-bankruptcy litigation and still matter for claimants whose cases were resolved before the stay.

Chapman v. Avon — $52.1 Million

In December 2022, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury awarded Rita Chapman and her husband Gary a total of $52.1 million after finding that Avon’s cosmetic talc contributed to Rita’s mesothelioma.¹² The award included $40.8 million in compensatory damages ($32.8 million to Rita, $8 million to Gary) and $11.3 million in punitive damages, of which $10.3 million was assigned to Avon.¹³ The jury found Avon 90% responsible, found that the company intentionally concealed contamination information, and heard that Avon continued selling four talc products with known high levels of asbestos for 103 days to clear inventory.¹⁴ A California appellate court affirmed the verdict on February 11, 2026. Rita Chapman died in May 2025, before the appeal was resolved.

Ramirez v. Avon — $24.4 Million

In July 2024, a Cook County, Illinois jury awarded $24.4 million to Cipriano Ramirez and his wife. Ramirez worked as a janitor at Avon’s Morton Grove, Illinois facility in the 1980s and was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma in 2023.¹⁵ The verdict came weeks before Avon’s bankruptcy filing.

Those numbers reflect what juries did when the cases were tried on the merits. Under the trust, individual-review mesothelioma claims are capped at $3 million, expedited mesothelioma claims receive the $10,000 scheduled value, and non-mesothelioma claims receive up to $6,000.²

1
Stretto. Avon Liquidation Trust
2
U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware. Memorandum Opinion, Case No. 24-11836
3
Mesothelioma.net. Bankruptcy Court Approves Avon’s Mesothelioma Talc Settlement
4
Mesothelioma Fund. Avon Asbestos Exposure
5
Bloomberg Tax. Avon Products Files for Bankruptcy to Wrangle Talc Lawsuits
6
NAM. Resume of Hon. Melanie L. Cyganowski
7
Lipsitz Ponterio. Avon Talc Lawsuit
8
Mesothelioma Fund. Imerys Asbestos Exposure
9
Findlaw. Chapman v. Avon Products, California Court of Appeal
10
Epiq. AIO US Inc. Bankruptcy Case Information
11
Morris James. Avon Delaware Bankruptcy Proceedings FAQs
12
Bloomberg. Avon Hit With $40 Million Verdict in California Talc Lawsuit
13
Mesothelioma.net. California Court Affirms $51 Million Mesothelioma Verdict Against Avon
14
Asbestos.com. Avon Loses Its Appeal of $51M Mesothelioma Verdict
15
Goldberg Segalla. Chicago Jury Returns $24.4M Plaintiff Verdict in Talc Trial