CHICAGO, July 30,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Keller Postman announces
that Meta Platforms, Inc., has agreed to pay $1.4 billion to the State of Texas for the company's decade-long
violations of the State's biometrics-privacy law. This marks the
largest settlement that a single State has ever achieved, and the
largest privacy-related settlement by a State in American
history.
Leading the case alongside Attorney General Ken Paxton and First Assistant Brent Webster was Senior Partner Zina Bash, who
said of the settlement, "This was an unprecedented case in many
ways: It was the first time the State of
Texas sought to enforce its biometric-privacy law since
enactment, requiring our team to develop novel litigation
approaches and analyze important questions of first impression. And
it was the first time a single State has ever achieved a settlement
of this magnitude—which is even more rewarding because of the
record time in which we obtained it. When we filed the case in
2022, we knew the State wanted to move quickly, and our team was
relentless in litigating the case."
Zina added, "I'm delighted about the result for the people of
Texas. It was an honor to serve as
Lead Counsel and—alongside Attorney General Ken Paxton, First Assistant Brent Webster, and attorneys from Keller Postman
and McKool Smith—defend the rights of tens of millions of Texans
against one of the largest and most powerful companies in the
world."
Managing the litigation with Zina
Bash were Senior Counsel Nick
Larry, Partner Jessica Beringer, and Senior Partner Ashley
Keller. The case had been set to be tried to a jury in June by
attorneys from Keller Postman, including Partner J.J. Snidow, and
attorneys from McKool Smith. But on the eve of trial, the parties
agreed to settle the dispute and asked the Court to stay
proceedings.
As Keller Postman wrote in the State's Petition, Meta had, for
over a decade, built an Artificial Intelligence empire on the backs
of Texans and millions of other Americans—deceiving them while
capturing their most intimate data, thereby putting their
well-being, safety, and security at risk. Specifically, the State
alleged that Meta had unlawfully captured the
biometric identifiers of Texans for a commercial purpose without
their informed consent in violation of the Texas Capture or Use of
Biometric Identifier Act (CUBI). Furthermore, the State
alleged that Meta had engaged in false, misleading,
and deceptive acts and practices in violation of the Texas
Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA).
Attorney General Ken Paxton said
of the resolution: "This historic settlement demonstrates our
commitment to standing up to the world's biggest technology
companies and holding them accountable for breaking the law and
violating Texans' privacy rights. Any entity abusing Texans'
sensitive data will be met with the full force of the law."
Together with Zina Bash,
Nick Larry, Jessica Beringer, Ashley
Keller, and J.J. Snidow, the Keller Postman team included
Alex Dravillas, Kiran Bhat, Zach
Clark, Rosie Romano,
Branden Weber, Andray Napolez, Randall
Newman, and a superb group of legal-support staff led by
Marla Bernal.
Keller Postman's Public Institutions Practice partners with
State Attorneys General, municipalities, and other entities in
pivotal litigation against their most formidable opponents. Our
objective is to work collaboratively to protect the rights of
consumers, workers, and all constituents whose well-being is
entrusted to our public institution clients.
The case is State of Texas
v. Meta Platforms, Inc., f/k/a Facebook, Inc., case no.
22-0121, 71st Judicial District Court for Harrison County, Texas.
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SOURCE Keller Postman LLC