Judge Shah
CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) - A federal judge in Illinois dismissed a would-be biometric privacy class action after the plaintiff disappeared, saying plaintiff lawyers “skirted close to the line” of sanctions by pursuing the case without properly investigating the claims.
First Student moved for sanctions against lawyers at Stephan Zouras LLC after the school-bus operator determined that plaintiff Roxanne Brewton had never applied for work at the company, contradicting her claim First Student had violated her rights under the Illinois biometric privacy act by taking her fingerprints.
“The charade is up,” First Student said in an April 20 filing seeking Rule 11 sanctions against the lawyers. “First Student has been unjustly forced to defend a class action lawsuit brought by an individual who did not apply to First Student for employment as alleged, and who has subsequently abandoned her case.”
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Ill. Judge Blasts Attys While Tossing Biometric Privacy Suit
Law360 (April 21, 2021, 10:12 PM EDT) An Illinois federal judge criticized Stephan Zouras LLP s investigation and handling of a client s biometric privacy suit as he dismissed the case, saying the attorneys skirted the line of sanctionable conduct and should have pulled back once significant issues arose.
U.S. District Judge Manish Shah dismissed Illinois resident Roxanne Brewton s biometric privacy suit against school bus provider First Student Inc. for want of prosecution after she d stopped communicating with her attorneys and their efforts to contact her failed. Brewton was previously ordered to explain why her case shouldn t receive that fate, but permanent dismissal is proper since she abandoned this litigation, .