Bloomberg Law Quotes Locke Lord’s Ken Suh on Illinois Supreme Court Ruling in Cothron v. White Castle

Chicago’s Ken Suh, Senior Counsel in Locke Lord’s Privacy and Cybersecurity Practice Group, was quoted by Bloomberg Law on the split Illinois Supreme Court decision in Cothron v. White Castle, finding that damages claims made under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) accrue on each violation, not just the first. The ruling, Suh notes, could leave businesses on the line for hundreds of millions of dollars if they are found liable for violating the law with their employment and consumer practices.

“Defense counsel may invest more in the early stages of litigation like increasing scrutiny of the class certification qualifications to limit the number of members who can collect damages,” Suh said.

The second major Illinois Supreme Court decision this month to define the scope of BIPA liability and damages, the decision comes weeks after the Illinois high court held that the biometric privacy law is subject to a five-year statute of limitations in Tims v. Black Horse Carriers. The two decisions “make it pretty clear that courts are interpreting the statute in a very specific way now, and it’s in a way that maybe is surprising to the business community,” he adds.

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