BNSF Liable for Contractor Under Illinois BIPA, Court Says

BNSF Railway can be held liable for violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act by a third-party contractor that collected biometric data on its behalf, a federal court ruled.

Principals may be held liable for the conduct of their agents under the common law, and statutes are generally construed in Illinois in reference to the principles of the common law, the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois said Monday.

The text of BIPA would preclude liability only if it clearly expressed the legislature’s intent to do so, but it doesn’t, Judge Matthew F. Kennelly said in ...