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Good morning. Companies are treading new ground in Illinois over the state’s stringent biometric privacy law. We’ve got the latest from the courts there. Plus, the 5th Circuit wants tighter restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone, as a dispute over the drug heads back to the U.S. Supreme Court. Several states are balking at Eli Lilly’s move to settle a class action over insulin pricing, and Georgia state prosecutors just asked a judge to put Donald Trump on trial there in March. Lots to unpack on this Thursday — let’s dive in.
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The stringent Illinois biometric privacy law is weighing on freight railway giant BNSF, which just cut loose one large firm for another as the company pursues settlement talks in a legal battle with truck drivers who accused it of unlawfully collecting their fingerprints.
BNSF’s prior team at Morgan Lewis in June won a court order erasing a $228 million jury award, and a fresh chance for the company to argue that the drivers are not entitled to any monetary damages for alleged violations of the Illinois biometric privacy law. The previous trial in October was the first to be held under the law, which poses myriad compliance hurdles for companies in protecting personal information.
Now, BNSF says it has hired Jones Day “to represent it in settlement negotiations with the plaintiff and, if necessary, a re-trial on damages,” our colleague David Thomas reports. Spokespersons for BNSF, Morgan Lewis and Jones Day did not respond to requests for comment.
BNSF’s considerations come as the 7th Circuit weighs a closely watched Illinois biometric privacy dispute involving White Castle System. Lawyers for the fast food chain at Cozen O’Connor are trying to minimize the possibility of a multibillion-dollar damages award for claims of violating the state law. They told the appeals court in a filing this week, citing a new Illinois Supreme Court decision, that the biometric law “does not authorize a damages award that would result in the ‘financial destruction’ of a business.”
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- The Georgia Supreme Court removed state appellate judge Christian Coomer from office over allegations he broke campaign finance rules and took advantage of an elderly client. The high court upheld a panel’s findings that Coomer of the Georgia Court of Appeals acted in bad faith. Coomer in a statement said he was disappointed in the ruling but acknowledged “my own errors in judgment resulted” in the decision. (Reuters)
- Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has proposed that former President Donald Trump’s trial on election interference charges start March 4, 2024, a date that would have Trump in court mid-campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. (Reuters)
- Lawyers for American Red Cross at Latham asked a Boston federal judge not to buy into the DOJ’s assertion in a “statement of interest” that the organization could be found liable under the Sherman Act federal antitrust law. The Red Cross is fighting a lawsuit from Verax Biomedical that accuses the charitable group of violating competition law for certain blood-testing services. (Reuters)
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That’s how much SoundExchange is seeking in royalties from satellite-radio giant Sirius XM in a new lawsuit in Virginia federal court. SoundExchange, the recording-industry nonprofit responsible for collecting and distributing music royalties, accused Sirius XM of underpaying in royalties. SoundExchange claimed Sirius XM was “gaming the system” by attributing revenues from its satellite-radio service to its streaming radio to avoid paying higher royalty rates. Sirius XM had no immediate comment. SoundExchange previously settled a royalty suit against Sirius XM for $150 million.
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Only one federal appellate court — the 2nd Circuit — has ruled on whether the U.S. Commodity Exchange Act applies to conduct by foreign defendants. A key government agency, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, believes that the 2nd Circuit botched its analysis, imposing a test that is at odds with U.S. Supreme Court precedent. Should the Supreme Court step in to review the 2nd Circuit’s holding? The trader whose case prompted the CFTC to weigh in says yes. The foreign banks he sued disagree. Alison Frankel has the story.
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“And of course, the public interest is disserved by a drug that does not afford adequate protections to its users.”
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- Donald Trump’s lawyers face a deadline to propose a trial date in the criminal case charging the former president with plotting to overturn his 2020 U.S. election loss. Federal prosecutors last week asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in D.C. to begin Trump’s trial on Jan. 2, 2024. That date would have the trial get under way just two weeks before the first votes are cast in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, a race in which Trump is the front-runner.
- A pretrial hearing about evidence in Donald Trump’s lawsuit in Florida against his former lawyer Michael Cohen is scheduled before Chief Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres in Miami. Trump accused Cohen of failing to keep confidential attorney-client communications private and profiting by spreading falsehoods about him in books and on podcasts. Cohen has called the suit retaliation for his testimony before a New York grand jury that indicted Trump in April on charges linked to a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
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Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.
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- Bankrupt Diamond Sports sued its parent company Sinclair for fraudulently withdrawing as much as $1.5 billion from the regional sports business, according to a newly unsealed lawsuit in U.S. bankruptcy court in Houston. Diamond Sports broadcasts nearly half of NBA, NHL and MLB local games through its “Bally Sports” branded channels. Sinclair has said Diamond’s claims were without merit. (Reuters)
- Samuel Miele, a campaign aide to embattled Republican U.S. Representative George Santos, was charged in Brooklyn federal court with impersonating a top congressional aide in fundraising appeals. The indictment said Miele reached out to over a dozen contributors via phone calls and an email account in the aide’s name. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy confirmed Miele was impersonating one of his top staffers. (Reuters)
- A proposed class action in Los Angeles Superior Court accused Clorox’s Brita water filter unit of misleading consumers by boasting about the effectiveness of its filters, despite their inability to remove some dangerous substances like toxic “forever chemicals” from drinking water. The lawsuit alleged violations of state consumer protection and unfair competition laws. Brita and Clorox didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. (Reuters)
- Allstate agreed to pay $90 million to settle a class action lawsuit by shareholders who accused the insurer of defrauding them by concealing that it lowered underwriting standards to boost growth. Attorneys for the shareholders, led by Labaton Sucharow, plan to seek up to $22.5 million from the settlement for legal fees and up to $4.6 million for expenses. (Reuters)
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- IP attorney Amy Baker Mandragouras left Cooley to join Foley Hoag as a partner in Boston. (Foley Hoag)
- Womble Bond Dickinson hired Eryn Brasovan as a partner in its Baltimore office. Brasovan was previously executive vice president and general counsel at FIRST Insurance Funding. (Womble)
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