A Blank Rome team representing DNJ Intermodal Services LLC prevailed in striking the complainant’s prayer for relief, which sought $1,000 or $5,000 for each of the thousands of times six Plaintiffs allegedly had their hands scanned at work. Will County Judge Roger D. Rickmon found—perhaps the first among Illinois judges—that a recent amendment to the Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA” or “the Act”), which stipulates that a business collecting identical biometric data multiple times from the same person in violation of the law is liable for only a single violation, applies retroactively to claims that arose and were filed prior to the August 2, 2024, effective date of the Act. This landmark ruling shaves potential BIPA damages for most pending cases from astronomical damages of millions (or hundreds of millions) of dollars to $1,000 or $5,000 per person. The question of whether BIPA’s amendment applies retroactively is simmering in courts throughout the state of Illinois and is expected to eventually make its way up to Illinois’ Courts of Appeal and perhaps the Illinois Supreme Court.
The Blank Rome team representing DNJ Intermodal Services LLC included Daniel Saeedi, Rachel Schaller, Jeffrey N. Rosenthal, Amanda Noonan, and Gabrielle Ganze.
