On June 30, 2023 the Northern District of Illinois vacated the $228 million damages award previously entered in the first jury trial arising under Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), and ordered a new jury...more
BNSF Railway, previously hit with a $228 million jury award for violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) when collecting fingerprints of employees, was recently awarded a new trial to determine damages....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: BNSF Railway seeks a new trial following the verdict against it in the first ever jury verdict in an Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”) class action. BNSF contends that the verdict, which...more
The judgement, which came down last week, exemplifies the risk of biometric information collection in Illinois and the risk that can result from relying solely on third party vendors. On October 12, 2022, a jury found...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Last week, the first jury trial of an Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”) class action case began in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in a case entitled Rogers...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In EEOC v. BNSF Railway Co., Case No. 8:21-CV-369 (D. Neb. April 28, 2022), Judge Brian C. Buescher of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska denied the EEOC’s request for a temporary...more
On March 15, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois held in the case of Rogers v. BNSF Railway Company, No. 19-C-3083, 2022 WL 787955 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 15, 2022) (slip copy) that the Federal Railway...more
I recently had occasion to write about cities and states revisiting their laws related to obesity as a protected characteristic and the potential for liability for disability discrimination on the basis of perceived obesity....more
On October 29, 2019, the Seventh Circuit held that Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company (“BNSF”) did not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) by refusing to hire a job applicant due to his obesity. The...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination in employment against persons who are disabled, as well as those regarded as disabled. Last week, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals joined other federal courts...more
FELA plaintiffs have long pointed out that Congress placed FELA cases in the hand of juries “to the maximum extent proper.” Tiller v. Atl. Coast Line R. Co., 318 U.S. 54, 68 & n. 30 (1943). But how often to the railroads make...more
On March 4, 2019, the Supreme Court issued a decision in BNSF Railway Co. v. Loos, which ostensibly was limited to the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA). However, FELA is incorporated by reference in the Jones Act,...more
Earlier this week, the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion in BNSF Railway Co. v. Loos, holding that a railroad’s payment to an injured worker for lost wages is taxable under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act (RRTA)....more
On March 4, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court held in BNSF Railway Co. v. Loos that a railroad’s payment to an employee for work time lost due to an on-the-job injury is taxable compensation under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act...more
On March 4, 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States decided BNSF Railway Co. v. Loos, No. 17-1042, holding that a railroad’s payment to an employee for lost wages due to an on-the-job injury is taxable “compensation”...more
Back in 2012, the EEOC issued BNSF a “Commissioner’s Charge,” saying it would investigate purported ADA violations by the railroad. For several years, BNSF cooperated with the EEOC’s numerous information requests. During...more
Plaintiffs who want to file lawsuits alleging discrimination under federal civil rights laws such as Title VII must first file an administrative charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission before proceeding to...more