Marsh v. CSL Plasma Inc.

Marsh v. CSL Plasma Inc.

Opinion

 [*679]  Memorandum Opinion And Order

Jada Marsh and Charles Hilson have filed this proposed class action against a plasma-donation company, CSL Plasma Inc. The Plaintiffs allege that CSL violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (often referred to as "BIPA"). 740 ILCS 14/1, et seq. R. 18-1, Compl.¹ The Act prohibits private entities from collecting any "biometric identifier"—including fingerprints—from a person unless that person has consented in writing and the private entity [**2]  has provided certain disclosures. 740 ILCS 14/15(b). Under Section 15(a) of the Act, collectors of biometric identifiers must develop, publicly disclose, and follow a data retention and destruction policy for the biometric information. 740 ILCS 14/15(a). The Plaintiffs allege that CSL violated the Act by using a donor-identification system that relied on the collection, storage, and use of donors' fingerprints and biometric information without proper written consent and without making required disclosures. The suit was initially filed in state court, and CSL invoked the Class Action Fairness Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332(d), 1453, to remove the case to federal court. CSL moved to dismiss for failure to adequately state a claim for relief. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). For their part, the Plaintiffs ask this Court to remand the Section 15(a) claims to state court for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. R. 18, Mot. Remand; R. 32, Pls.' Position Paper. For the reasons set forth below, the motion to remand is denied and the motion to dismiss is denied in large part.

I. Background

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