CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) – Ancestry.com is criticizing a proposed class action lawsuit against it by noting an identical case filed elsewhere has already been thrown out of court.
Clifford Law Offices and Morgan & Morgan, representing Sergio Bonilla, filed their case Dec. 14 in Chicago federal court, taking aim at Ancestry’s use of school yearbooks from the 20th century. They say the site did not receive consent from the millions of Illinoisans whose names and photographs appear in its Ancestry Yearbook Database.
This collection is a selling point when Ancestry offers its membership services, the suit says.
“The access to yearbooks prompted the same counsel to file three virtually identical class actions in different federal courts, and the first-filed case has already been dismissed for reasons that equally apply here,” the motion to dismiss filed March 8 says.
Ancestry.com says Bonilla’s case does not establish personal jurisdiction in Chicago. Bonilla’s yearbook is from his high school in Nebraska and only 6% of yearbook records on Ancestry.com are from Illinois schools.
The company is also not headquartered in the state, it says.
“It is well established the operation of a universally available website – with ‘advertisements’ viewable by residents of the forum state – is insufficient for personal jurisdiction, even where forum state residents contend they were harmed,” the motion says.
Bonilla and his lawyers also fail to allege he’s been damaged, noting the decision in the California dismissal says “Ancestry’s using the public profiles to solicit paying subscribers – standing alone – does not establish injury.”