First Illinois Biometric Privacy Trial Ends in BNSF Loss (2)

A class of more than 45,000 truck drivers won a $228 million judgment in the first biometrics privacy class action to go to trial in Illinois, after a jury found that BNSF Railway Co. violated state law by collecting employee fingerprints without proper consent.

Jon Loevy, the lead trial attorney for the plaintiffs, confirmed the verdict to Bloomberg Law. BNSF’s loss marks the first look at how jury trials might play out in similar Biometric Information Privacy Act class actions.

“The verdict confirms that people care about privacy and they care when those rights are violated,” Loevy said.

BNSF spokesperson ...