THE WHAT? District Judge Lashonda Hunt has ruled on the viability of a class action lawsuit launched against Elf Cosmetics in the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division, which alleges that the US beauty brand has violated the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act via its Virtual Try-On tool.

THE DETAILS Elf’s motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s complaint in favor of arbitration, or in the alternative, for failure to state a claim has been granted in part and denied in part. The defendant’s attempt to compel arbitration was denied; count I may proceed along with the plaintiff’s request for heightened damages. However, Counts II and III have been dismissed for lack of standing.

THE WHY? The court found that, while the section 15(a) and (c) claims could be dismissed without prejudice, the claim under section 15(b) and claim for heightened damages would not be dismissed at this junction as the plaintiff adequately pled that the defendant collected, captured or otherwise obtained plaintiffs’ face geometry through its Virtual Try-On feature.