November 26, 2018
Good morning Tech Council members. Tomorrow the legislature is set to meet for the final week of fall veto session. Members of the current General Assembly will likely hold one last session (lame duck session) a day or two prior to the swearing in of the new 101st General Assembly in January. Outside of the House's potential override attempt in the House on Governor Rauner's amendatory veto on the car sharing bill (more on that below), this week looks light for tech.
IL SUPREME COURT HEARS ORAL ARGUMENTS ON BIPA
Last Thursday, the Illinois Supreme Court heard oral arguments in an appeals case (
Rosenbach v. Six Flags Entertainment Corp.) that will have significant implications for Illinois employers. Since 2015, the business community has been the target of over 100 cookie cutter complaints seeking to impose astronomical damages on the business community for alleged technical violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act ("BIPA"), despite the complete absence of any actual harm to individuals.
Enacted in 2008, BIPA sought to regulate the collection, use, handling, storage, retention and destruction of biometric identifiers and information. BIPA also creates a private right of action for persons aggrieved by a violation of the law which may result in astronomical potential damages to Illinois businesses.
The technology at issue in BIPA class actions is often utilized by businesses to keep more accurate timekeeping records than traditional time clocks. Illinois businesses also use technology which may be implicated by BIPA for dispensing medications, protecting the safety of children at daycare centers and safeguarding radioactive materials.
In the case before the Supreme Court last week, the plaintiff sought damages alleging Six Flags violated her son's rights by requiring him to be electronically fingerprinted when buying a season pass. However, an appellate court decision found that no damages were due because the plaintiff never demonstrated a direct injury or adverse effect. Fortunately, the Supreme Court now has an opportunity in this case to uphold the appellate court's decision and interpret BIPA in such a way that it will not become a means of targeting Illinois businesses.
Reversal of the appellate court's decision will almost certainly result in a flood of additional class action litigation, clog the Illinois judicial system with thousands of BIPA class action lawsuits, and expose Illinois businesses to devastating monetary damages at the risk of the health of Illinois commerce.
The Chamber submitted an amicus brief brief to the Court on this case. Our brief can be found
here.
CHAMBER SUBMITS COMMENTS ON EMPLOYEE CLASS
Last week the Illinois Chamber submitted comment and provided remarks to the Illinois Department of Labor's proposed rule changes to 56 Ill. Adm. Code 210. This may be beneficial to many of you in the tech industry that deal with employee classification.
We concur that the definition changes proposed for "Employee" in Section 210.110 will clarify issues considered by the Department when determining whether an individual is an employee or an independent contractor. Illinois businesses need certainty and stability regarding classification issues, and the Chamber believes the rule helps in that regard.
We have some additional suggestions that we ask the Department to consider as factors under the definition of "employee" that could help with further clarification and compliance by employers. Those suggestions have been submitted to the Department under the public comment period of the rule. Our suggestions can be found here.
SENATE OVERRIDES GOV'S VETO ON CAR-SHARING
Last week, the Illinois Senate last week overrode Gov. Rauner's amendatory veto
to
HB 2641
(Munoz/Turner) by
39-12-3
. In short, this bill seeks to classify car-sharing companies as traditional car rental services, subjecting them to the same taxes and regulations as traditional car rental companies. Gov. Rauenr amendatorily vetoed the bill this summer signaling that this would hurt the peer-t-peer car sharing service. Quite possibly one of the most lobbied bills of the year, HB 2641 now heads to the House for a final vote to override the Governor's veto.
FACEBOOK COMING TO SPRINGFIELD
The Illinois Chamber's Tech Council is proud to invite all Illinois Chamber members to attend a free two-day, localized program bringing together small business owners, entrepreneurs, job seekers and community groups to enable them to learn how to use technology to grow their business and to learn new skills. The event, put on by Facebook, will take place from December 3 through December 4 at the Bank of Springfield Center in Springfield, IL. For more information and to register, click here.
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
