In a new Law360 article, Thompson Coburn attorneys David Duffy, Carlos Ortiz, and Dremain Moore covered next steps for employers in light of a recent Seventh Circuit ruling on Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act claims.
BIPA regulates how private entities collect, retain, disclose, and protect biometric information. The court addressed whether Illinois’ 2024 amendment to the act capping statutory damages applied to cases already pending. In Clay v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., the court held that the amendment does apply retroactively to pending BIPA cases, narrowing what were once catastrophic penalties in the form of per-scan statutory damages.
However, the authors wrote, “employers should not mistake the ruling in Clay for a broad safe harbor. BIPA’s underlying duties remain intact, large classes can still create substantial exposure and several questions regarding the amendment’s practical application remain unresolved.”
They explained what the ruling does and doesn’t change, as well as compliance priorities for employers, noting “the central practical lesson from Clay is that lower potential damages do not excuse noncompliance.”
Read the article here.
