Appeals court won’t rehear arguments in BIPA coverage dispute

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday unanimously denied the request of a Hanover Insurance Group Inc. unit to rehear arguments in a dispute with a condiment maker over coverage for a 2021 class action alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.

In its May 2 ruling in Citizens Insurance Co. of America v. Mullins Food Products Inc, the three-judge panel overturned a ruling from a Chicago federal judge that two exclusions in Mullins’ policies relieved Citizens from defending the suit. The appeals court said in its ruling that a statutory violations exclusion in Mullins’ 2015 general liability policy did not apply to an underlying class action filed by employee Ricardo Galan.

Mr. Galan alleged that Mullins, which scanned employees’ fingerprints to monitor and manage their time on the job, violated BIPA by failing to formally inform them that their biometric information was being collected and disseminated and failing to obtain their consent, court records show.

Broadview, Illinois-based Mullins, which Newly Wed Foods Inc. purchased in 2018, notified Citizens about the class action in January 2022. The insurer denied coverage based on the exclusions and sued Mullins in March 2022, seeking a declaration that it was not obligated to provide coverage.

Citizens requested a rehearing May 16.

Representatives for the parties did not respond to requests for comment.