| Lemonade
Insurance Was Sued For Iris Scans Some
Claims Survived Now Case Stayed
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
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SDNY COURTHOUSE,
August 22 –
Lemonade Insurance Company has
been sued for allegedly
unlawful collection, storage,
analysis and use of its
customers' biometric
data.
On May 31,
U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn
held a conference. Inner City
Press covered it.
The
complaint notes that Lemonade
"touts is ability to extract
1,600 data points about a
customer by asking only 13
questions."
On May 31,
allegations were made about
Lemonade's use of iris scans,
fingerprints, voiceprints and
hand and face geometry scans,
and to a similar case in
Illinois.
A stay of
discovery was requested.
Judge Netburn said she would
take it under advisement and
rule soon.
On June 1 Judge
Netburn ordered that since the
parties will not resolve their
dispute through the putative
class action settlement in
Illinois, a discovery schedule
was due on June 8.
On June 8, the
parties filed the schedule,
based off the Court entering
the parties stipulation: close
of fact discovery, 10 months;
filing of disposive motions in
16 months.
On August 9,
District Judge John G. Koeltl
dismissed some but not all
claims: "the plaintiffs have
alleged both overpayment and
injury over the course of the
contract, and their GBL § 349
claims may therefore co-exist
with their breach of contract
claims. 4. Contrary to
Lemonade's contentions,
applying§ 349 to
representations about
biometric information is
consistent with New York law.
Lemonade argues that, because
the plaintiffs rely on a
definition of biometric
information that is similar to
the definition used by an
Illinois biometric information
statute, applying§ 349 to
representations about
biometric information would
circumvent the New York
legislature's decision not to
enact such a statute. But
applying the GEL to biometric
information does not create
special protections for
biometric information. It
merely confers the same
protection against "deceptive
acts or practicesff about
biometric information as about
all other aspects of
"business, trade or
commerce.ff Applying the GEL
to representations about the
collection of biometric
information therefore does not
create a new cause of action
and is entirely consistent
with the requirements of New
York law: For these reasons,
the motion to dismiss the§ 349
claim is denied." So the case
continues.
On August 15, the
parties wrote in to Judge
Netburn that "they are
actively working toward a
resolution of the case and
hope to reach a formal
agreement this week."
On August 22,
District Judge Koeltl ordered:
"STIPULATION AND ORDER TO STAY
PROCEEDINGS: In support of
this stipulation, the Parties
state: 1. The Parties have
been engaged in active
negotiations regarding
resolution of this Action for
several months. 2. On or
around August 18, 2022, the
Parties reached an agreement
in principle that seeks to
resolve all claims asserted in
this Action. 3. The Parties
agree that a 45-day stay of
all proceedings in this Action
would be beneficial for the
litigants and the Court as it
would allow the Parties
sufficient time to complete
their negotiations and
finalize the terms of their
agreement. 4. The Parties
agree that as part of the
45-day stay, Defendants'
answer to the Amended
Corrected Class Action
Complaint, which was due on
August 22, 2022 pursuant to
Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(a)(4)(A)
following the partial denial
of Defendants Motion to
Dismiss, shall also be stayed.
Should the parties not
complete the settlement,
Defendants' answer shall be
filed within seven (7) days of
the end of the stay. 5. The
Parties agree that should the
Parties not be able to resolve
the matter, the temporary
45-day stay should terminate
and the Parties will propose
for the Court's consideration
a new case schedule. 6. The
Parties will provide the Court
with a status report at the
expiration of the 45-day stay.
WHEREFORE, the Parties jointly
stipulate and respectfully
request that the Court So
Order this Stipulation and
stay this case in its entirety
in accordance with the terms
of this Stipulation for 45
days. So Ordered. Motions
terminated: [51] LETTER MOTION
to Stay addressed to Judge
John G. Koeltl from Andrea
Farah and Eric R. Fish dated
August 19, 2022. filed by Jose
Gutierrez, John Barlow.
(Signed by Judge John G.
Koeltl on 8/22/2022) Case
stayed.
The case is
Pruden v. Lemonade, Inc. et
al., 21-cv-7070 (Koeltl /
Netburn)
***
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