Today, Stephan Zouras won an important ruling from the Illinois Supreme Court that the statute of limitations period for claims under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) is five years.

Our clients, Jorome Tims and Isaac Watson, were employed by Black Horse Carriers, a company which collected, stored and disseminated their biometric data without their consent and without creating a biometric retention and destruction policy as required under BIPA.

In an opinion by Justice Neville, the Court unanimously held that a five-year statute of limitation – the longest available for statute without a specific limitations period – governs all claims under BIPA.  In so holding, the Court rejected Black Horse’s argument that a short one-year statute of limitations period should apply.

James Zouras, one of the principals and founders of Stephan Zouras, argued for the plaintiffs last September, representing our firm’s tireless advocacy to protect the biometric privacy rights of Illinois citizens both inside and outside the workplace.

“Today’s decision allows countless victims of biometric privacy abuse to have their day in court,” says Zouras.  “We are grateful to our courageous clients, our amici, and all our many other supporters who have stood with us throughout this fight.  With this ruling, we now look forward to presenting these claims at trial to a jury.”

You can read more about the protection of privacy rights here.