A Court authorized the notice because you had a right to know about a proposed Settlement of this class action lawsuit and about all of your options, before the Court decided whether to give final approval to the Settlement. The Notice explains the lawsuit, the Settlement, and your legal rights.

The case is in the Circuit Court of Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, DuPage County, Illinois.  The case is called Frederick, et al. v. ExamSoft Worldwide, Inc., Civil Action No. 2021L001116.  The persons who sued are called the Plaintiffs.  The Defendant is ExamSoft Worldwide, LLC f/k/a ExamSoft Worldwide, Inc.

In a class action, one or more people called class representatives (in this case, Brittney Frederick, Alexander Pruefer, Jinger Sanders, Cristen Lee, Marcia Curcio, and Alexandra Neumayer) sue on behalf of a group or a “class” of people who have similar claims. In a class action, the court resolves the issues for all class members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Class.

This lawsuit claims that ExamSoft violated Illinois law by unlawfully collecting, capturing, receiving, or otherwise obtaining and/or storing its Illinois test-takers’ Biometric Identifiers and/or Biometric Information through its online proctoring software.  ExamSoft denies the claims in the lawsuit, contends that it did not do anything wrong, and denies that class certification is warranted or appropriate.  The Court did not resolve the claims and defenses raised in this action.  Nor has the Court determined that ExamSoft did anything wrong. This matter was certified as a class action and the Settlement was approved by the Court on April, 7, 2022.  The Parties have, without admitting liability, settled the lawsuit to avoid the uncertainties and expenses associated with ongoing litigation.

The Court has not decided whether the Plaintiffs or ExamSoft should win this case. Instead, both sides agreed to a Settlement. That way, they avoid the uncertainties and expenses associated with ongoing litigation, and Class Members will get compensation sooner rather than, if at all, after the completion of a trial.

The issuance of the Notice is not an expression of the Court’s opinion on the merit or the lack of merit of Plaintiffs’ claims or the defenses in the lawsuit. Both parties recognize that to resolve the issues raised in the lawsuit would be time-consuming, uncertain, and expensive.

The Court decided that everyone who fits the following description is a member of the Settlement Class:

All Illinois residents who used ExamSoft’s software to take an online exam between January 1, 2020 through and including May 5, 2021 and who had their facial geometry or other biometric information collected, captured, received, or otherwise obtained and/or stored by Defendant.

Monetary Relief: A Settlement Fund has been created totaling $2,250,000.00. Settlement Class Member payments as well as the cost to administer the Settlement, the cost to inform people about the Settlement, attorneys’ fees, and an award to the Class Representatives, will come out of this fund (see FAQ 12).

Prospective Relief: On or about May 6, 2021, ExamSoft updated its notices and consents. It agrees to continue to provide BIPA-compliant notices and obtain BIPA-compliant consents from all test takers in Illinois unless and until BIPA is amended, repealed, invalidated, or otherwise declared unconstitutional.

A detailed description of the settlement benefits can be found in the Settlement Agreement on the Important Documents page.

You will automatically receive a designated pro rata share of the Net Settlement Fund—which will be the remainder of the Settlement Fund after the deduction of attorneys’ fees, expenses, incentive awards, notice and settlement administration costs, and any other costs agreed to by the Parties and approved by the Court.  Your pro rata share will be determined by whether you are a Private University Student, Public University Student, or Bar Exam Taker.  You may have elected to receive your share by either electronic deposit or by check before March 14, 2022. The deadline to file an Election Form has passed. The default payment method will be check.  All checks will expire and become void 180 days after they are issued. We estimate that payments to Class Members will  be issued on or around July 15, 2022.

The hearing to consider the fairness of the settlement was held on April 7, 2022.  During the hearing, the Court approved the settlement, which means eligible Class Members whose claims were approved by the Settlement Administrator will receive their payment.  Please be patient; this process could take a while. Class Members will receive their payments via check or direct deposit, depending on the election they may have made by the deadline of March 14, 2022.The default payment method will be check.  All checks will expire and become void 180 days after they are issued. We estimate that payments to Class Members will be issued on or around July 15, 2022.

The Court approved the Settlement on April 7, 2022. When the Settlement becomes final, you will give up your right to sue ExamSoft and other Released Parties for the claims being resolved by this Settlement.  The specific claims you are giving up against ExamSoft are described in the Settlement Agreement.  You will be “releasing” ExamSoft and certain of its affiliates, employees and representatives as described in Section 3.2 of the Settlement Agreement.  Unless you excluded yourself, you are “releasing” the claims, regardless of whether you submitted a claim or not.  The Settlement Agreement is on this website at the Important Documents page.

The Settlement Agreement describes the released claims with specific descriptions, so read it carefully. If you have any questions you can talk to the lawyers listed in FAQ 11 for free or you can, of course, talk to your own lawyer if you have questions about what this means.

You will automatically receive a designated pro rata share of the Net Settlement Fund—which will be the remainder of the Settlement Fund after the deduction of attorneys’ fees, expenses, incentive awards, notice and settlement administration costs, and any other costs agreed to by the Parties and approved by the Court.  Your pro rata share will be determined by whether you are a Private University Student, Public University Student, or Bar Exam Taker.  You will receive your share by check

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The Court has appointed Bursor & Fisher, P.A to be the attorneys representing the Settlement Class. They are called “Class Counsel.” They believe, after conducting an extensive investigation, that the Settlement Agreement is fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the Settlement Class. You will not be charged for these lawyers. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer in this case, you may hire one at your expense.

Any Class Counsel attorneys’ fees and costs awarded by the Court will be paid out of the Settlement Fund in an amount to be determined by the Court. The fee petition will seek no more than 37.5% of the Settlement Fund; the Court may award less than this amount. Under the Settlement Agreement, any amount awarded to Class Counsel will be paid out of the Settlement Fund.

Subject to approval by the Court, the Class Representatives may be paid up to $5,000 each from the Settlement Fund.

The deadline to exclude yourself from the Settlement was March 14, 2022. The deadline has passed.

No. Unless you excluded yourself, you gave up any right to sue ExamSoft for the claims being resolved by this Settlement.

No. If you excluded yourself, you will not receive a pro rata payment from the Net Settlement Fund. 

The deadline to object to the Settlement was March 14, 2022. The deadline has passed

Objecting simply means telling the Court that you don’t like something about the Settlement.  Excluding yourself from the Class is telling the Court that you don’t want to be part of the Class.  If you excluded yourself, you have no basis to object because the Settlement no longer affects you.

The Court held the Final Approval Hearing at 10:00 a.m. on April 7, 2022, at the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit Court for the County of DuPage, Illinois, 505 N. County Farm Road, Wheaton, IL 60187.  The purpose of the hearing was for the Court to determine whether to approve the Settlement as fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interests of the Class; to consider the Class Counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees and expenses; and to consider the request for an incentive award to the Class Representatives.  At that hearing, the Court was available to hear any timely filed objections and arguments concerning the fairness of the Settlement. The Court decided to approve the Settlement.

The Notice summarizes the Settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement. You can get a copy of the Settlement Agreement at on this website at the Important Documents page. You may also write with questions to ES BIPA Settlement, c/o JND Legal Administration, P.O. Box 91398, Seattle, WA 98111. You can call the Settlement Administrator at 1-877-389-1908 or Class Counsel at 1-646-837-7150, if you have any questions. Before doing so, however, please read the full Notice carefully. You may also find additional information elsewhere on the case website. Please do not telephone the Court to inquire about the settlement or the claims process.