Seventh Circuit Finds Article III Standing For An Illinois BIPA Claim

On May 5, 2020, the Seventh Circuit held that allegations that a defendant violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act ("BIPA") by collecting a biometric information without first obtaining informed consent constituted an "injury in fact" sufficient to confer Article III standing. Bryant v. Compass Group USA, Inc., No. 20-1443. Prior to this ruling, a majority of federal district courts in Illinois had come to the opposite conclusion, resulting in employers having to litigate BIPA putative class actions in Illinois state court, which has more lenient standing requirements. (We have blogged about BIPA-related standing issues here and here.)

Background

Plaintiff worked for a call center in Illinois which had a workplace cafeteria with vending machines operated by the Compass Group ("Compass"). The machines did not accept cash; rather, employees had to scan and use their fingerprints to create user accounts and to purchase items.