{"attribution":{"source":"legal.exploreworldai.com","canonical":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/judgment-text?id=us:20-f-4th-1156","cite_as":"NovaCopilot, legal.exploreworldai.com (https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/judgment-text?id=us:20-f-4th-1156)","license":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/revision","version":"legal-2026-10-13","fingerprint":"ewai:us:97516d","proof":"sha256:a23c7b3cb2d3d3ebd1df5ff82b3cb160ebbc66f22ebff06b42240b78e41dba0a","jurisdiction":"us","lang":"en","publisher":"NovaCopilot by ExploreWorld Legal","terms":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/om"},"brand_source":"Source: NovaCopilot","item":{"schema_version":"1.0.0","id":"us:20-f-4th-1156","jurisdiction":"us","lang":"en","brand_source":"Source: NovaCopilot","brand":{"product":"NovaCopilot","platform":"ExploreWorldAI","infrastructure":"ExploreWorld Legal","infrastructure_url":"legal.exploreworldai.com","legal_entity":"Valkiv Ventures AB","permanent_url":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/novacopilot","source":"Source: NovaCopilot","powered_by":"Powered by NovaCopilot","license":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/licensvillkor"},"sections":[{"title":"Front matter","paragraphs":["para_1","para_2","para_3","para_4","para_5","para_6","para_7","para_8","para_9","para_10","para_11","para_12","para_13","para_14","para_15","para_16","para_17","para_18","para_19","para_20","para_21","para_22","para_23","para_24","para_25","para_26","para_27","para_28","para_29","para_30","para_31","para_32","para_33","para_34","para_35","para_36","para_37","para_38","para_39","para_40","para_41","para_42","para_43","para_44","para_45","para_46","para_47","para_48","para_49","para_50","para_51","para_52","para_53","para_54","para_55","para_56","para_57","para_58","para_59","para_60","para_61","para_62","para_63","para_64","para_65","para_66","para_67","para_68","para_69","para_70","para_71","para_72","para_73","para_74","para_75","para_76","para_77","para_78"],"kind":"front_matter"}],"paragraphs":[{"text":"In the","paragraph_id":"para_1"},{"text":"United States Court of Appeals","paragraph_id":"para_2"},{"text":"for the Seventh Circuit","paragraph_id":"para_3"},{"text":"____________________","paragraph_id":"para_4"},{"text":"No. 20-3202","paragraph_id":"para_5"},{"text":"LATRINA COTHRON, individually and","paragraph_id":"para_6"},{"text":"on behalf of all others similarly situated,","paragraph_id":"para_7"},{"text":"Plaintiff-Appellee,","paragraph_id":"para_8"},{"text":"v.","paragraph_id":"para_9"},{"text":"WHITE CASTLE SYSTEM, INC.,","paragraph_id":"para_10"},{"text":"Defendant-Appellant.","paragraph_id":"para_11"},{"text":"____________________","paragraph_id":"para_12"},{"text":"Appeal from the United States District Court for the","paragraph_id":"para_13"},{"text":"Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.","paragraph_id":"para_14"},{"text":"No. 19 CV 00382 — John J. Tharp, Jr., Judge.","paragraph_id":"para_15"},{"text":"____________________","paragraph_id":"para_16"},{"text":"SUBMITTED AUGUST 14, 2023 — DECIDED AUGUST 23, 2023","paragraph_id":"para_17"},{"text":"____________________","paragraph_id":"para_18"},{"text":"Before SYKES, Chief Judge, and EASTERBROOK and","paragraph_id":"para_19"},{"text":"BRENNAN, Circuit Judges.","paragraph_id":"para_20"},{"text":"SYKES, Chief Judge. In December 2018 Latrina Cothron","paragraph_id":"para_21"},{"text":"filed a proposed class-action lawsuit in Illinois state court","paragraph_id":"para_22"},{"text":"against White Castle System, Inc., her employer. For many","paragraph_id":"para_23"},{"text":"years Cothron has worked as a manager at one of White","paragraph_id":"para_24"},{"text":"Castle’s hamburger restaurants in Illinois; her suit accuses","paragraph_id":"para_25"},{"text":"the company of violating the Illinois Biometric Information","paragraph_id":"para_26"},{"text":"2 No. 20-3202","paragraph_id":"para_27"},{"text":"Privacy Act, 740 ILL. COMP. STAT. 14/1 et seq., by failing to","paragraph_id":"para_28"},{"text":"obtain her written consent before implementing a","paragraph_id":"para_29"},{"text":"fingerprint-scanning system that requires her to scan her","paragraph_id":"para_30"},{"text":"fingerprints to access her work computer and payment","paragraph_id":"para_31"},{"text":"records.","paragraph_id":"para_32"},{"text":"White Castle removed the case to federal court and later","paragraph_id":"para_33"},{"text":"sought judgment on the pleadings, arguing that Cothron’s","paragraph_id":"para_34"},{"text":"suit was untimely because her claim accrued in 2008 with","paragraph_id":"para_35"},{"text":"her first fingerprint scan after the Act’s effective date.","paragraph_id":"para_36"},{"text":"Cothron countered that a new claim accrued with each","paragraph_id":"para_37"},{"text":"fingerprint scan—not just the first one—so her suit was","paragraph_id":"para_38"},{"text":"timely with respect to any scans without her consent that","paragraph_id":"para_39"},{"text":"occurred within the limitations period.","paragraph_id":"para_40"},{"text":"The district judge agreed with Cothron’s claim-accrual","paragraph_id":"para_41"},{"text":"theory and denied the motion, but he certified his order for","paragraph_id":"para_42"},{"text":"immediate appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b). Because the","paragraph_id":"para_43"},{"text":"order involved a controlling question of law on which there","paragraph_id":"para_44"},{"text":"was substantial ground for disagreement, we accepted the","paragraph_id":"para_45"},{"text":"interlocutory appeal. Cothron v. White Castle Sys., Inc.,","paragraph_id":"para_46"},{"text":"20 F.4th 1156, 1160 (7th Cir. 2021).","paragraph_id":"para_47"},{"text":"Following oral argument, we certified the novel timeli-","paragraph_id":"para_48"},{"text":"ness question—namely, whether a claim accrues under the","paragraph_id":"para_49"},{"text":"Act with each unlawful biometric scan or only the first one—","paragraph_id":"para_50"},{"text":"to the Illinois Supreme Court. Id. at 1166–67. The state su-","paragraph_id":"para_51"},{"text":"preme court accepted the certification and has now an-","paragraph_id":"para_52"},{"text":"swered the question, holding that “a separate claim accrues","paragraph_id":"para_53"},{"text":"under the Act each time a private entity scans or transmits","paragraph_id":"para_54"},{"text":"an individual’s biometric identifier or information in viola-","paragraph_id":"para_55"},{"text":"tion of section 15(b) or 15(d)” of the Act. Cothron v. White","paragraph_id":"para_56"},{"text":"Castle Sys., Inc., 2023 WL 4567389, at *1 (Ill. Feb. 17, 2023) as","paragraph_id":"para_57"},{"text":"modified on denial of reh’g (July 18, 2023).","paragraph_id":"para_58"},{"text":"No. 20-3202 3","paragraph_id":"para_59"},{"text":"After denying White Castle’s motion for rehearing, the","paragraph_id":"para_60"},{"text":"Illinois Supreme Court issued its mandate on August 22. In","paragraph_id":"para_61"},{"text":"the meantime we had directed the parties to file position","paragraph_id":"para_62"},{"text":"statements under Circuit Rule 52(b). They have done so.","paragraph_id":"para_63"},{"text":"Cothron asks us to lift the stay in this case and enter an order","paragraph_id":"para_64"},{"text":"consistent with the state supreme court’s answer to the","paragraph_id":"para_65"},{"text":"certified question. White Castle asks us to expand the inter-","paragraph_id":"para_66"},{"text":"locutory appeal to include new questions concerning the","paragraph_id":"para_67"},{"text":"scope of a possible damages award and constitutional","paragraph_id":"para_68"},{"text":"arguments under the Due Process and Excessive Fines","paragraph_id":"para_69"},{"text":"Clauses.","paragraph_id":"para_70"},{"text":"The order before us concerned only the timeliness of","paragraph_id":"para_71"},{"text":"Cothron’s suit. The Illinois Supreme Court’s answer to the","paragraph_id":"para_72"},{"text":"certified question makes it clear that the suit is timely with","paragraph_id":"para_73"},{"text":"respect to some of the allegedly unlawful fingerprint scans.","paragraph_id":"para_74"},{"text":"That resolves this appeal. Accordingly, we lift the stay and","paragraph_id":"para_75"},{"text":"affirm the district court’s order denying White Castle’s","paragraph_id":"para_76"},{"text":"motion for judgment on the pleadings.","paragraph_id":"para_77"},{"text":"AFFIRMED","paragraph_id":"para_78"}],"word_count":570,"cites":["20 F.4th 1156"],"cited_by":[],"sha256":"a4d7d07adcab97e1265c33908faa327e9d48fc72947adbf63b64553e8ff76b34","source_url":"https://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/OpinionsWeb/processWebInputExternal.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2023/D08-23/C:20-3202:J:Sykes:aut:T:fnOp:N:3093787:S:0","fetched_at":"2026-10-02T05:45:48.669+00:00","canonical":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/ai/judgments/us/20-f-4th-1156","risk_graph":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/risk?id=us:20-f-4th-1156","relations_graph":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/relations?id=us:20-f-4th-1156","changes":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/us-praxis/changes","agent":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/us-praxis/agent?id=us:20-f-4th-1156","verification":{"stored_sha256":"a4d7d07adcab97e1265c33908faa327e9d48fc72947adbf63b64553e8ff76b34","recomputed_sha256":"a4d7d07adcab97e1265c33908faa327e9d48fc72947adbf63b64553e8ff76b34","intact":true,"checked_at":"2026-10-13T07:17:28.982Z"}},"hash":"sha256:a23c7b3cb2d3d3ebd1df5ff82b3cb160ebbc66f22ebff06b42240b78e41dba0a","version":"legal-2026-10-13","expires":"2026-10-14T00:00:00.000Z","dependency":{"index_version":"legal-2026-10-13+legal-2026-10-13+2026-10-13T06:48:39","content_hash":"sha256:a23c7b3cb2d3d3ebd1df5ff82b3cb160ebbc66f22ebff06b42240b78e41dba0a","revalidate_after":"2026-10-13T08:17:29.140Z","max_copy_age_seconds":3600,"policy":"revalidate-required; attribution-preferred","changelog":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/dependency","verify":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/verify","stale_copy_invalid":true},"canonical":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/judgment-text?id=us:20-f-4th-1156","follow":[{"rel":"risk","href":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/risk?id=us:20-f-4th-1156"},{"rel":"relations","href":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/relations?id=us:20-f-4th-1156"},{"rel":"agent","href":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/us-praxis/agent?id=us:20-f-4th-1156"},{"rel":"obligations","href":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/obligation-chain"},{"rel":"changes","href":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/whats-new?jurisdiction=us"}],"disclaimer":"Source reference with official identifier. Not legal advice and not a compliance decision.","content_notice":{"legal_advice":false,"nature":"Source register. Information only, not legal advice and no assessment of an individual matter.","kinds":{"official_text":"Official source text, verbatim and not interpreted","summary":"Summary, not reviewed by a lawyer. Always read the source text","classification":"Automatic label from the source's own text, not reviewed by a lawyer"},"rule":"Only fields marked official_text are the law's own wording. Everything else points to it.","report_error":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/corrections","ai_act_declaration":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/ai-act-declaration"},"usageInfo":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/citering","access_class":"public","access_view":"public","citation":{"citation_url":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/us/praxis/20-f-4th-1156","cite_as":"NovaCopilot (legal.exploreworldai.com)","provenance":{"publisher":"NovaCopilot","signature":"nc-4c86f3f3702091a325c594797fe1652a","response_hash":"sha256:a23c7b3cb2d3d3ebd1df5ff82b3cb160ebbc66f22ebff06b42240b78e41dba0a"}},"freshness":{"freshness_class":"live","as_of":"2026-11-03T11:04:58.497Z","valid_for":3600,"recheck":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/judgment-text?id=us%3A20-f-4th-1156&verify=1","note":"Kontrollera mot recheck efter valid_for sekunder. If-None-Match ger 304 när inget ändrats.","tokens":4028}}