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[CNJRoss]

Bloomberg Law, 10/12/22

 

First Illinois Biometric Privacy Trial Ends in BNSF Loss

 

• $228 million in damages ordered in judgment
• Verdict a win for truck drivers in class action

 

A class of more than 45,000 truck drivers won a $228 million judgment in the first biometrics privacy class action to go to trial in Illinois, after a jury found that BNSF Railway Co. violated state law by collecting employee fingerprints without proper consent.

 

Jon Loevy, the lead trial attorney for the plaintiffs, confirmed the verdict to Bloomberg Law. BNSF’s loss marks the first look at how jury trials might play out in similar Biometric Information Privacy Act class actions.

 

“The verdict confirms that people care about privacy and they care when those rights are violated,” Loevy said.

 

BNSF spokesperson Lena Kent said the company plans to appeal.

 

 

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[CNJRoss]

Transport Topics, 10/17/22

 

Truckers Win Over BNSF in Case Regarding Illinois Biometrics Law

In what is believed to be the first jury verdict related to Illinois’ strict biometrics privacy law, a $228 million judgment has been entered against BNSF Railway in a class-action lawsuit over the railroad’s collection of fingerprint data.

 

SNIP

 

In the federal lawsuit, Richard Rogers, a truck driver for a third-party company, said BNSF requires drivers to use fingerprints and “related biometric information” to access the railroad’s intermodal facilities. But the railroad failed to get written consent before collecting and storing biometric information and failed to disclose in writing the purpose for which it was collecting and storing the data, violating Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act, he said in the suit.

 

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[CNJRoss]

Trains News Wire

 

BNSF’s $228 million penalty in biometric privacy case thrown out

 

July 1, 2023

 

Federal judge upholds ruling railroad violated Illinois law, but orders new trial on damages

 

CHICAGO — A federal judge has ordered a new trial for BNSF Railway on damages in a case that found the railroad violated the privacy of truck drivers by collecting their fingerprints to access intermodal facilities.

 

That decision overturns the $228 million in damages originally awarded in the class action suit, which found BNSF had violated Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act, which limits the collection and use of fingerprints, retinal scans, and other data [see “BNSF ordered to pay $228 million …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 13, 2022]. The original decision found BNSF guilty of recklessly or intentionally violating the law 45,600 times, and fined BNSF $5,000 for each violation.

 

Reuters reports that U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly upheld the verdict that BNSF had violated the law, but said damages were discretionary and BNSF is “entitled to have a jury determine the appropriate amount.”

 

 

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[CNJRoss]

Reuters, 9/18/23

 

BNSF Railway will settle biometric privacy case, after $228 mln verdict wiped out

 

Sept 18 (Reuters) - BNSF Railway has agreed to settle a closely watched privacy class action rather than head to trial for a second time, following a U.S. judge's decision in June that gave the company a new chance to fight alleged damages from truck drivers who claimed it unlawfully collected their fingerprints.

 

In a filing on Monday, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly in Chicago federal court said BNSF and the plaintiffs in the case had signed a settlement.

 

 

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[CNJRoss]

CDLLife, 2/27/24

Railroad company BNSF to pay truckers $75 million for collecting their fingerprints without consent

 

Railroad company BNSF has agreed to pay tens of millions of dollars to settle a class-action suit that accused the company of violating Illinois privacy laws by collecting truck driver fingerprints without obtaining proper consent.

 

SNIP

 

Lawyers representing the truckers argued that BNSF violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act of 2008, which requires written permission to gather a person’s biometric information, including retinal scans and fingerprints.

 

More here.