Veiga, et al. v. Respondus, Inc. Frequently Asked Questions

A Court authorized the notice to let you know about a proposed Settlement with the Defendant. You have legal rights and options that you may act on before the Court decides whether to approve the proposed Settlement. You may be eligible to receive a cash payment as part of the Settlement. The notice explains the lawsuit, the Settlement, and your legal rights. 

Judge Timothy J. McJoynt of the Circuit Court of DuPage County, Illinois is overseeing this class action. The case is called Veiga, et al. v. Respondus, Inc., Case No. 2023LA000430. The persons who filed the lawsuit, Lucius Veiga, Alex Parker Zimmerman, Courtnie Patterson, Trevonte Johnson, Cody Powell, Daniel Fee, and Brittany Harvey are the Plaintiffs. The company they sued, Respondus, Inc., is the Defendant. 

A class action is a lawsuit in which an individual called a “Class Representative” brings a single lawsuit on behalf of other people who have similar legal claims. All of these people together are a “Class” or “Class Members.” Once a Class is certified, a class action Settlement finally approved by the Court resolves the issues for all Settlement Class Members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Settlement Class.

The Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”), 740 ILCS 14/1, et seq., prohibits the collection, storage, and/or use of a person’s biometric data for any purpose, without first providing notice and getting consent in writing. Biometrics are things like your fingerprint, faceprint, or a scan or your eye’s iris. This lawsuit alleges that Defendant violated BIPA through the use of Defendant’s Respondus Monitor application in Illinois to identify individuals without complying with the law’s requirements. Defendant denies these allegations and denies that it violated BIPA, including that it ever collected or possessed any biometric data that could be subject to BIPA. No Court has decided who is right.

More information about the complaint in the lawsuit and the Defendant’s position can be found in the Documents section of this website.

The Court has decided that this Settlement includes all persons who took an exam using Respondus Monitor while physically present in the state of Illinois at any time between November 11, 2015 and June 2, 2023. Excluded from the Settlement Class are: (i) persons who used Respondus Monitor while attending Illinois public universities or colleges; (ii) Defendant; (iii) any person who was an officer or director of Respondus during the Class Period; (iv) any firm or entity in which any Defendant has or had a controlling interest; (v) parents, affiliates, or subsidiaries of Respondus; (vi) the legal representatives, agents, heirs, beneficiaries, successors-in-interest, or assigns of any excluded person or entity, in their respective capacity as such; (vii) the Court and staff (and the immediate family of) to whom this case is assigned; and (viii) any persons or entities who or which exclude themselves by individually submitting a timely and valid request for exclusion according to the opt-out requirements in the Class Notice and that is accepted by the Court. You may call the Settlement Administrator at 833-747-6499 to ask whether you are a member of the Settlement Class.  

Cash Payment. If you’re eligible, you can file a claim to receive a cash payment. The amount of each payment is estimated to be around $50.00, depending on the number of Approved Claims submitted. This is an equal share of a $6,250,000 fund that Respondus has agreed to create, after the payment of Settlement Administration Expenses, Fee Award, and any Service Award for the Class Representatives in the litigation approved by the Court. Settlement Class Members who submit an Approved Claim during the claims period will get their payment in one estimated installment of $50.00 by the Settlement Administrator.

Prospective Relief. Without admitting any liability, Respondus represents that, during the pendency of the Litigation, it has taken additional steps to clarify its compliance with BIPA, including revising its Privacy Policy and Student Terms of Use, and verifying that any arguable biometric information always has been, and continues to be, stored only in transient memory and not saved to a permanent storage device or associated with an individual’s identity. Respondus will continue to comply with BIPA going forward.

If you are a Settlement Class Member and you want to get a payment, you must complete and submit a valid Claim Form by August 30, 2023. Claim Forms can be submitted on this website or you can download a Claim Form and mail it to:

Yes, the Court has appointed lawyers Gary M. Klinger and Jonathan B. Cohen of law firm Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman PLLC, as the attorneys to represent you and other Class Members. These attorneys are called “Class Counsel.” In addition, the Court appointed Plaintiffs Lucius Veiga, Alex Parker Zimmerman, Courtnie Patterson, Trevonte Johnson, Cody Powell, Daniel Fee, and Brittany Harvey to serve as the Class Representatives. They are Class Members like you. Class Counsel can be reached by calling 1-866-252-0878.

You don’t need to hire your own lawyer because Class Counsel is working on your behalf. You may hire your own lawyer, but if you do so, you will have to pay that lawyer. 

Class Counsel will ask the Court for a Fee Award  of up to $2,500,000 of the Settlement Fund, and will also request a Service Award of not more than $2,000 for each of the Class Representatives from the Settlement Fund. The Court will determine the proper amount of any Fee Award to award Class Counsel and the proper amount of any award to the Class Representatives. The Court may award less than the amounts requested. 

If you do nothing, you will receive no money from the Settlement Fund, but you will still be bound by all orders and judgments of the Court. Unless you exclude yourself from the Settlement, you will not be able to file or continue a lawsuit against Defendant or other Released Parties regarding any of the Released Claims. Submitting a valid and timely Claim Form is the only way to receive a payment from this Settlement.

You may submit a Claim Form on this website. For information on how to request exclusion from the class or file an objection, please visit the FAQ section of this website, or call 1-833-747-6499.

You may exclude yourself from the Settlement. If you do so, you will not receive any cash payment, but you will not release any claims you may have against Respondus and the Released Parties (as that term is defined in the Settlement Agreement) and are free to pursue whatever legal rights you may have by pursuing your own lawsuit against Respondus and the Released Parties at your own risk and expense. 

You can mail a letter stating that you want to be excluded from the Settlement. Your letter must: (a) be in writing; (b) identify the case name, Veiga, et al. v. Respondus, Inc., 2023LA000430 (Cir. Ct. DuPage Cty. Ill.); (c) state the full name, email address and current address of the person in the Settlement Class seeking exclusion (d) attest that between November 11, 2015 and June 2, 2023, you were physically in the state of Illinois while using Respondus Monitor; (e) state the university, college or institution that administered the assessment that used the Respondus Monitor system; (f) be signed by the person(s) seeking exclusion; and (g) be postmarked or received by the Settlement Administrator on or before July 31, 2023. Each request for exclusion must also contain a statement to the effect that “I hereby request to be excluded from the proposed Settlement Class in Veiga, et al. v. Respondus, Inc., 2023LA000430 (Cir. Ct. DuPage Cty. Ill.).” You must mail your exclusion request no later than July 31, 2023 to: 

No. If you exclude yourself, you will not receive a payment.

If you do not exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you can object to the Settlement if you don’t like any part of it. You can give reasons why you think the Court should deny approval by filing an objection. To object, you must file a letter or brief with the Court stating that you object to the Settlement in Veiga, et al. v. Respondus, Inc., 2023LA000430  (Cir. Ct. DuPage Cty. Ill.), no later than July 31, 2023. Your objection must be e-filed or filed with the Clerk of the Court at the following address:

The Court will hold the Final Approval Hearing at 9:00 a.m. (Central Time) on August 31, 2023 before the Honorable Timothy J. McJoynt in Room 2008 at the DuPage County Courthouse and Administration Building, 505 N. County Farm Road, Wheaton, Illinois 60187, or via remote means as instructed by the Court. The purpose of the hearing is for the Court to determine whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interests of the Class. At the hearing, the Court will hear any objections and arguments concerning the fairness of the proposed Settlement, including those related to the amount requested by Class Counsel for Fee Awards and the Service Award to the Class Representatives.

Note: The date and time of the Final Approval Hearing are subject to change by Court Order. Any changes will be posted on this website.

No. Class Counsel will answer any questions the Court may have. You are welcome to come at your own expense. If you send an objection, you don’t have to come to Court to talk about it. As long as your written objection was filed on time and meets the other criteria described in the Settlement, the Court will consider it. You may also pay a lawyer to attend, but you don’t have to do so. 

The notice summarizes the proposed Settlement. More details, including the Settlement Agreement and other documents, are available on this website or in the Clerk’s Office in the DuPage County Courthouse and Administration Building, 505 N. County Farm Road, Wheaton, Illinois 60187, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Court holidays and any closures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. You can also contact the Settlement Administrator at: