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Earlier this year, the governor signed into law an amendment
that clarified that multiple BIPA violations against the same
party constitute a single violation and accordingly limits the
damages. But its retroactivity has sparked controversy,
following recent conflicting court decisions on the issue.
On Nov. 13, 2024, the District Court for the Northern District
of Illinois held that the amendment applied retroactively and
determined that the plaintiff’s damages were limited to a single
recovery for the same BIPA violation. Nine days later, a
different judge on the same court ruled that the law did not
apply retroactively.
Phil Melin, executive director of the group Illinois Citizens
Against Lawsuit Abuse, said Illinois lawmakers are to blame for
drafting poor legislation
“What happens is that you create a lot of work on the courts as
they try to read the tea leaves because of the intent of the
legislature,” said Melin. “What we think is it presents another
failure of the legislature to do the job the right way.”
After ruling against White Castle in a biometric case that
potentially could have cost the company $17 billion, the
Illinois Supreme Court hinted that the General Assembly may want
to clarify the law. White Castle eventually settled the lawsuit
for just over $9 million.
Other companies have been hauled into court after claims they
violated BIPA, including Google, SnapChat and Facebook. In 2022,
more than one million Facebook users in Illinois received checks
following a $650 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit
alleging the social media company violated residents' rights by
collecting and storing scans of their faces without permission.
Melin believes BIPA cases will play out in the courts for some
time.
“It’s going to drag on,” said Melin. “We might have different
standards for federal courts and state courts. It’s going to be
a big mess.” |
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