BNSF Settles Landmark BIPA Case for $75M

BNSF Railway Co. has reached a settlement in its landmark class action lawsuit under Illinois’s Biometric Information Privacy Act.

The basis for the class action lawsuit against BNSF under BIPA is the allegation that the railroad company collected and stored truck drivers’ fingerprints for identification purposes without first obtaining their informed written consent. BIPA requires companies to provide clear notice and get express consent from individuals before collecting, storing, or using their biometric data, such as fingerprints. The lawsuit contends that BNSF violated the act by failing to meet these legal requirements when collecting truck drivers’ fingerprints.

The company had made headlines in the autumn of 2022 when the first jury trial under BIPA resulted in a ruling against BNSF, with a potential payout of $228 million, based on the maximum fine per violation of the Act.

The 2022 ruling against BNSF had a potential fine of $228 million because of how damages are structured under BIPA. BIPA stipulates potential fines of up to $5,000 for each willful or reckless violation of the law and $1,000 for negligent violations. In this case, the jury found that BNSF had recklessly or intentionally violated BIPA a staggering 45,600 times. As a result, the maximum penalty of $5,000 was applied to each violation, leading to the potential $228 million fine.

But the presiding judge later determined that a jury should decide on the size of the fine.

A new trial to determine that outcome had been slated for October of 2023, but both sides came to a preliminary settlement agreement before it started. Now, they have hammered out the details, with BNSF agreeing to pay $75 million to a class of claimants numbering 45,600.

Source: Bloomberg Law

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February 27, 2024 – by the FindBiometrics Editorial Team