District Court grants preliminary approval in BIPA settlement

Courts Class Action BIPA State Issues Illinois Privacy/Cyber Risk & Data Security Settlement

On November 4, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted preliminary approval of a class action settlement resolving claims that a plasma donation center (defendant) unlawfully collected and stored the fingerprints of blood plasma donors. According to the memorandum of law in support of the plaintiff’s motion for preliminary approval, the plaintiff filed the proposed class action in 2019, alleging the defendant violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by collecting thousands of fingerprints through a finger-scanning donor identification system without providing proper disclosures or obtaining informed written consent. The plaintiff further alleged that the defendant required her (and thousands of Illinois blood plasma donors) to provide a fingerprint to donate plasma, which was later used for identification on subsequent visits. The plaintiff alleged that by not requiring her informed consent and by disclosing her information to a third party, the defendant’s practice violated BIPA. According to the plaintiff’s motion, the settlement (if approved) would establish a settlement class of 76,826 Illinois blood plasma donors who were required to scan their finger at the defendant’s Illinois facilities prior to donating plasma. The settlement would provide payouts of approximately $400 to $800 per class member, assuming a claims rate of 10 percent to 20 percent, and permit class counsel to file for up to 35 percent of the settlement fund for attorney fees.