The settlement in the BNSF Railway biometrics case in Illinois that was announced in September now has a price tag: $75 million.
But the average payout to drivers and other logistics workers who were part of the class action against the railroad will be about $1,000 per person.
The class-action suit against the railroad that was filed in 2019 first resulted in a victory for the plaintiffs in October 2022 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. After a five-day jury trial, a judgment was handed down against BNSF (NYSE: BRK-A) for $228 million, saying that the railroad had violated the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by recording data from drivers and workers obtained by “biometrically-enabled devices to verify … the identities of truck drivers when they entered BNSF’s Illinois facilities,” according to a history of the dispute in the settlement document.
But BNSF sought a new trial as a result of subsequent legal decisions regarding BIPA. That request was granted and the $228 million award was vacated.
The lead plaintiff in the case was a driver named Richard Rogers. In the initial suit and after the class was certified, the plaintiffs said the “identity verification devices were components in the automated gate systems at BNSF facilities in Illinois.” They relied on fingerprints and other biometric information.
“[Plaintiffs] alleged that the use of such devices in Illinois was subject to regulation by BIPA and that [BNSF] failed to obtain written consent from [the defendants] to collect or otherwise obtain their biometrics,” according to a summary of the case history in the settlement document.
That document, filed with the federal court Monday, revealed the $75 million price tag to end the litigation.
Negotiators for the two sides attempted to reach a settlement numerous times, and the instances with their dates are included in the settlement document. It was on Sept. 8, 2023, that they reached an agreement. That was just a few weeks before the retrial was to begin on Oct. 2. But the precise size of the settlement had not been reached at that time.
After legal fees and other costs are taken out of the settlement, the two parties agree that the average payout for each member of the class will be approximately $1,000. Legal fees are capped at 35% of the settlement fund of $75 million, plus “reasonable” costs.
In the settlement document, BNSF said it is no longer using the biometrics system that was at the heart of the legal dispute.
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