EAST ST. LOUIS – Danny Collins of Cook County, one of two plaintiffs claiming Blackstone Group obtained genetic information without consent when it bought Ancestry.com’s DNA business, has chosen not to pursue the claim.
He dismissed it without prejudice on Sept. 9, leaving St. Clair County resident Carolyn Bridges as sole plaintiff.
Blackstone bought the business, Ancestry.com DNA, for $4.7 billion last year.
Attorney Gregory Shevlin, of Bruce Cook’s firm in Belleville, filed suit for Bridges and Collins in St. Clair County circuit court in July.
Shevlin proposes a statewide class action for buyers of Ancestry test kits.
He claims Bridges and Collins never gave permission for Ancestry to transfer their information to a third party.
He also claims the class would include thousands or possibly hundreds of thousands.
Blackstone counsel Martin Roth of Chicago removed the suit to district court on Sept. 2, asserting diverse citizenship as a New York business.
Roth moved to transfer the suit to Northern Illinois district court for consolidation with a similar suit that other lawyers filed in June.
He also moved to stay the action pending a decision on transfer, and Chief District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel granted it on Sept. 8.
She directed Bridges to respond to the transfer motion by Sept. 16.
Roth moved to dismiss the Northern Illinois suit in August, claiming Illinois law prohibits release of genetic information but not possession of it.
He argues that Illinois law wouldn’t apply anyway, because the complaint didn’t allege that violations occurred primarily and substantially in Illinois.
In response, McGuire Law Firm in Chicago amended the complaint on Sept. 3.
District Judge Charles Kocoras presides.