On Wednesday, November 6, 2024, U.S. District Court Judge LaShonda A. Hunt of the Northern District of Illinois largely denied Defendants’ motions to dismiss Plaintiffs’ complaints in the cases of Van Housen, et al. v. Amazon.com, Inc., et al. and Coulter, et al. v. Hudson Group (HG) Retail, LLC and Dufry America, LLC. The motion to dismiss was denied in full as to the Amazon.com, Inc., et al. lawsuit and granted in part and denied in part as to the Hudson Group (HG) Retail LLC, et al. lawsuit. The Court granted the motion as to the section 15© claim against Hudson Group (HG) Retail LLC, et al.
“Plaintiffs appreciate Judge Hunt’s thorough, well-reasoned opinion and we look forward to proceeding with the case,” wrote WBE Partner Justin N. Boley in a media statement.
The lawsuits, originally filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, accuses Amazon and Hudson of violating Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act. Per the complaints, Amazon and Hudson allegedly obtained Plaintiffs’ and putative class members’ biometric data through the proprietary Just Walk Out technology and then stored, used, and disseminated that data. In doing so, Amazon profited from the biometric data of Illinois customers, and both companies harmed the substantive privacy interests that BIPA was intended to protect.
Discovery is expected to begin in January 2025.