Juan Barron, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. Paycor, Inc.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois partially granted and partially denied Paycor, Inc.’s motion to alter or amend the certified class definition in a class action under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act. The court removed the reference to hand geometry based on a declaration that the Perform Time timekeeping systems used fingerprint scanning only, but retained the references to other biometric data and declined to narrow the class based on consent, statutory-period, or settlement-release arguments. The amended class covers Illinois workers whose fingerprints or other biometric data were collected, captured, received, obtained, or disclosed by Paycor’s Perform Time system during the applicable statutory period.

Holdings

1. A district court may alter or amend a class-certification order before final judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(c)(1)(C), including in response to circumstances developing as the litigation unfolds.
2. The class definition should be amended to remove the reference to hand geometry because Paycor's sworn declaration established that the Perform Time models at issue did not contain hand-geometry scanning functionality.
3. The court declined to narrow the class definition on the basis of potential consents, the asserted October 18, 2021 implementation date, or employer settlement releases because those issues involved factual variances and fact-intensive merits questions better addressed at summary judgment.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the court could alter or amend the previously certified class definition before final judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(c)(1)(C).
2. Whether the class definition should be amended to remove hand geometry because the Perform Time clocks at issue did not collect hand-geometry data.
3. Whether the class definition should also be narrowed to exclude persons who consented, claims outside Paycor's asserted statutory period, or claims released in settlements with employers.

Disposition

other