Hayden Schottlaender Partner

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion in Zellmer v. Meta Platforms, Inc., on June 17, 2024, affirming dismissal of a putative class action filed under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act. In what is expected to be an influential opinion, the panel held that the “face signatures” at issue were not covered by the statute because they could not be used to identify a person.

The Texas Data Protection and Security Act goes into effect on Monday, July 1, 2024. The Texas attorney general announced that his office has formed a task force to enforce the TDPSA, along with Texas’ several other data privacy laws.

In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s stay of a temporary injunction in NetChoice, LLC v. Paxton, a closely watched case involving a novel Texas law purporting to bar “social media platforms” from engaging in “viewpoint” discrimination.

In Texas, some victims of workplace sexual assault may pursue common law assault claims against their employers, following a recent Supreme Court of Texas ruling.

Federal law permits impoverished parties to litigate in federal court without paying filing fees. Such litigants proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), and doing so requires them to file an affidavit with the court detailing their financial status by disclosing their assets, income and expenses.