UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

EASTERN DIVISION

SAMUEL DONETS, individually and on 

behalf of all others similarly situated,

Plaintiff,

v.

VIVID SEATS LLC,

Defendant.

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No. 1:20-cv-03551

Hon. Franklin U. Valderrama 

PLAINTIFF’S OPPOSED MOTION TO LIFT STAY FOR THE LIMITED 

PURPOSE OF GRANTING RELIEF UNDER RULE 23(d)

Plaintiff, Samuel Donets, hereby moves the Court to lift the stay in the instant case for the 

limited purpose of granting relief under Rule 23(d) of the Federal Code of Civil Procedure, and 

states the following in support:

1. The underlying case is a proposed class action brought by Plaintiff, a former 

employee of Defendant Vivid Seats LLC (“Defendant”), for alleged violations of the Biometric 

Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”), 740 ILCS § 14/1, et seq.

2. Defendant successfully moved to stay this case, see Doc. 37—Order granting in 

part and denying in part Defendant’s motion to stay, premised in part on representations to the 

Court that failure to enter a stay during the pendency of the appeals in Tims, Marion, McDonald, 

and White Castle would result in undue burden, expense, and unnecessary attorneys’ fees and costs 

incurred in litigating a case where the claims “may be completely time-barred, preempted, or 

significantly reduced in scope and value.” (Doc. 32, Mot. ¶¶ 2, 3, 5, 9). Defendant further 

represented to the Court that it wanted to have its “limited human capital” run its business rather 

than engage in class action litigation and discovery. (Id. ¶ 8). 

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3. Subsequent to those representations and without asking the Court to lift the stay or 

providing prior notice to Plaintiff’s counsel, Defendant sent to Plaintiff and other putative class 

members a Cover Sheet, Limited Release of Claims Agreements (“Limited Release”) and a Notice 

of Retention Policy and Consent Form (“Consent Form”) (collectively, “communication”) in an 

attempt to settle their claims individually for $100.

4. The communication with these potential class members is misleading, coercive (as 

to any current employees), and incomplete in that said communication fails to advise of the 

damages available under BIPA and fails to advise, among other things, of the pendency of the 

appeals set forth above. 

5. For the reasons stated in the attached Memorandum of Law, Plaintiff respectfully 

requests that the Court lift the stay in this case for the limited purpose of addressing Plaintiff’s 

Rule 23(d) motion and that the Court also issue an Order pursuant to Rule 23(d)(1) that invalidates 

any Limited Releases and Consent Form obtained by Defendant, requires Defendant to provide 

the names, addresses, and email addresses of all employees, former employees, or anyone else 

who were sent the Cover Sheet, Limited Release, and Consent Form, requires Defendant to provide 

Plaintiff with any signed copies of the Limited Release and Consent Form, and bars Defendant 

and its counsel from contacting Plaintiff directly regarding this case. 

6. Plaintiff also requests that the Court require a Court-approved corrective notice at 

Defendant’s expense that advises putative class members of (1) the current status of this case, (2) 

the damages available under BIPA, (3) the issues raised and the current status of White Castle, 

Tims, Marion, and McDonald, (4) that putative class members may contact Plaintiff’s counsel for 

more information or retain their own counsel, and (5) for any relief the Court deems just and 

proper. 

Case: 1:20-cv-03551 Document #: 43 Filed: 07/27/21 Page 2 of 4 PageID #:342
7. Pursuant to the Court’s Case Procedures, Plaintiff contacted opposing counsel and 

asked whether there was an objection to the relief sought in this motion and was advised that 

Defendant does object to the relief sought herein. 

Respectfully submitted,

SAMUEL DONETS, individually and on behalf of 

all others similarly situated

By: /s/ Wallace C. Solberg

Wallace C. Solberg

Ryan M. Kelly

ANDERSON + WANCA

3701 Algonquin Road, Suite 500

Rolling Meadows, IL 60008

(847) 3688-1500

wsolberg@andersonwanca.com

rkelly@andersonwanca.com

Nick Wooten 

NICK WOOTEN, LLC

5125 Burnt Pine Drive

Conway, Arkansas 72034

(833) 937-6389

nick@nickwooten.com

Rusty A. Payton 

PAYTON LEGAL GROUP

20 North Clark Street, Suite 3300

Chicago, Illinois 60602

(773) 682-5210

info@payton.legal

Arthur C. Czaja

LAW OFFICE OF ARTHUR CZAJA

7521 N. Milwaukee Avenue

Niles, Illinois 60714

(847) 647-2106

arthur@czajalawoffices.com

Counsel for Plaintiff and the Putative Class

Case: 1:20-cv-03551 Document #: 43 Filed: 07/27/21 Page 3 of 4 PageID #:343
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on July 27, 2021, I electronically filed the foregoing with the Clerk 

of the Court using the CM/ECF system which will send notification of such filing to all attorneys 

of record. 

s/ Wallace C. Solberg

Wallace C. Solberg

 

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