Keller Postman Achieves Landmark $1.4 Billion Settlement for Texas in Record Time

Chicago, IL 7/30/2024 – 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.

For more information, please contact Hazel Wolf at hazel.wolf@kellerpostman.com.