BNSF Train, formerly struck with a $228 million jury award for breaching the Illinois Biometric Details Personal Privacy Act (BIPA) when gathering finger prints of workers, was just recently granted a brand-new trial to identify damages. Although lots of cases declaring offenses of BIPA have actually formerly been settled, this case was the very first to go to trial.
The jury discovered BNSF recklessly and purposefully broke BIPA 45,600 times when gathering finger prints of truck motorists. BIPA offers damages of $5,000 per offense and the jury granted complainants the total of damages under the law. In giving the brand-new trial, the judge concurred with BNSF’s argument that BIPA damages are discretionary and not statutory, which BNSF was entitled to a brand-new trial so a jury can identify the proper quantity of damages.