The consolidated appeals involved three workers who alleged their employers violated BIPA by requiring fingerprint or hand geometry scans without proper consent. Reginald Clay, a commercial truck driver, claimed Union Pacific Railroad collected his fingerprint scans approximately 1,500 times, potentially worth $7.5 million in statutory damages. Brandon Willis filed a putative class action that could have resulted in billions in damages.
Chief Judge Brennan, writing for the court, distinguished between substantive and procedural changes under Illinois law, finding the amendment 'remedial' because it only affected damages recovery, not liability standards. 'The amendment did not alter when "a cause of action … has arisen," nor did it change "the rights, duties, and obligations of persons to one another"—the hallmarks of substantive changes,' Brennan wrote, noting the legislature placed the change in Section 20 governing damages rather than Section 15 establishing substantive violations.
The appeals arose after Illinois amended BIPA Section 20 in 2024 following the state supreme court's 2023 Cothron decision, which held that claims accrue with every biometric scan and invited legislative review of 'potentially excessive damage awards.' The amendment provides that multiple collections from the same person using the same method constitute 'a single violation' entitling plaintiffs to 'at most, one recovery,' though it included no express retroactivity clause.
The ruling resolves a critical question affecting hundreds of pending BIPA cases and provides significant relief to employers facing massive exposure from routine biometric collections. The court reversed three district court decisions and remanded for recalculation of damages under the amended statute, noting courts 'must ensure they follow the latest guidance of the legislature when calculating damages under BIPA Section 20.'