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BIPA claims accrual overview:
- Who: The Illinois Supreme Court ruled Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) claims can accrue each time data is unlawfully collected.
- Why: Illinois’ high court ruled White Castle, the defendant in a pending BIPA claim, failed to explain how its fingerprint scan system could work without continually collecting or capturing the biometric data.
- Where: The Illinois Supreme Court made the decision.
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled in a 4-3 decision that Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) claims can accrue each time data is unlawfully collected and disclosed rather than stopping after the first time.
The judge’s decision was in support of plaintiff Latrina Cothron’s interpretation of BIPA in her claims against White Castle, which she accused of violating the law with its alleged practice of obtaining and storing employees’ fingerprints, Law360 reports.
White Castle employees are allegedly required to give their fingerprints to the company to enable them future access to White Castle computers or pay stubs.
The Illinois Supreme Court says White Castle was unable to explain how its fingerprint scan system could work without “collecting or capturing the fingerprint every time” an employee needs access to a computer or pay stub, Law360 reports.
The ruling reportedly comes following a request by the Seventh Circuit for a decision on how claims can accrue under BIPA with hundreds of pending claims against companies accused of unlawful biometric data collection practices.
Decision supports White Castle employee fingerprint collection case
The federal appellate court deferred the decision on BIPA claims accrual to Illinois’ high court after the former said it was unsure how to answer the question presented in the claim against White Castle, Law360 reports.
White Castle reportedly argued Cothron asked the judges to determine that every instance of collection and disclosure involving biometric data would count as a new BIPA violation. This would be an issue because it allegedly ignores statutory provisions within BIPA that say a plaintiff may be able to recover damages for each individual BIPA violation, White Castle said.
However, Cothron reportedly argued this would be a worst-case scenario that was not based in reality and simply an argument used by BIPA defendants trying to cross a $5 million threshold when attempting to move claims from the state to federal level.
The decision comes on the heels of a ruling by the Illinois Supreme Court earlier this month that individuals will have five years to make BIPA claims, reversing a one-year limit previously set by an intermediate appellate court.
Have you had your biometric data collected and stored without your consent? Let us know in the comments!
Cothron is represented by Ryan Stephan, James Zouras, Andrew Ficzko and Teresa Becvar of Stephan Zouras LLP.
The White Castle biometric data case is Latrina Cothron v. White Castle System Inc., Case No. 128004, before the Illinois Supreme Court.
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