IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS 

SABRINA BEDFORD, 

 Plaintiff, 

v. 

LIFESPACE COMMUNITIES, INC., 

 Defendant. 

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 Case No. 1:20-cv-04574 

 Hon. Manish S. Shah 

 Magistrate Hon. Susan E. Cox 

[PROPOSED] ORDER CERTIFYING CLASS FOR SETTLEMENT PURPOSES ONLY 

AND GRANTING PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT 

 On ___________, the Court heard Plaintiff’s Unopposed Motion for Preliminary Approval 

of Class Action Settlement. The Court has considered the Settlement Agreement and its exhibits, 

including the Notice of Proposed Settlement of Class Action Lawsuit (“Class Notice”), along with 

the submissions of counsel, and hereby finds and orders as follows: 

 1. Unless otherwise defined herein, all capitalized terms used in this Order (the 

“Preliminary Approval Order”) will have the same meaning as defined in the Settlement 

Agreement. 

 2. The Court finds on a preliminary basis that the Settlement memorialized in the 

Settlement Agreement, and filed with the Court, falls within the range of reasonableness and, 

therefore, meets the requirements for preliminary approval. 

 3. This Court grants preliminary approval of the Parties’ Class Action Settlement. 

 4. This Court finds that the proposed Settlement Class is proper and should be 

certified. For purposes of the proposed Settlement, the Settlement Class is certified pursuant to 

Fed. R. Civ. P. 23 as follows: 
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All individuals working for Defendant Lifespace Communities, Inc. (“Defendant” 

or “Lifespace”) in the State of Illinois who had any information that allegedly could 

be covered under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, 740 ILCS 14/1, 

et seq., collected, captured, received, obtained, maintained, stored, transmitted, or 

disclosed by any Defendant within the five-year period preceding the date the 

Complaint was filed through February 1, 2021 and who do not timely opt-out of 

the settlement (“Settlement Class”). 

5. This Court specifically finds for purposes of this settlement that (i) the class is so 

numerous that joinder is impracticable; (ii) common questions of fact and law exist; (iii) Plaintiff’s 

claims are typical of the class claims; and (iv) Plaintiff will be able to fairly and adequately protect 

the interests of the Settlement Class. In addition, this Court finds for purposes of this Settlement 

that common questions of fact and law predominate over questions affecting individual Class 

Members, and the class action is superior to other available methods of adjudication. Certification 

of the Settlement Class for settlement purposes is the best means for protecting the interests of all 

Settlement Class Members. 

6. This Court appoints the attorneys from Stephan Zouras, LLP as Class Counsel and 

Named Plaintiff Sabrina Bedford as Class Representative. 

7. This Court approves Simpluris as Settlement Administrator to perform duties in 

accordance with the terms of the Settlement Agreement and the plan of settlement administration 

therein. 

 8. The Class Notice to be provided as set forth in the Settlement Agreement is hereby 

found to be the best practicable means of providing notice under the circumstances and, when 

completed, shall constitute due and sufficient notice of the proposed Settlement and of the Final 

Approval Hearing to all persons and entities affected by and/or entitled to participate in the 

Settlement, in full compliance with the notice requirements of Fed. R. Civ. P. 23, due process, the 

Constitution of the United States, the laws of the State of Illinois, and all other applicable laws. 
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The Class Notice is accurate, objective, and informative and provides members of the Settlement 

Class with all of the information necessary to make an informed decision regarding their 

participation in the Settlement and its fairness. 

 9. The Class Notice, attached to the Settlement Agreement as Exhibit A, is approved. 

The Settlement Administrator is authorized to mail those documents to the Class Members as 

provided in the Settlement Agreement. 

 10. Any written objection to the Settlement must be submitted to the Court no later than 

forty-five (45) days after the Class Notice is mailed to the Class Members. 

 11. Any uncashed amounts from the Settlement Fund (including checks disbursed to 

Settlement Class Members that are uncashed for any reason within 120 days of issuance of the 

check) will be retained by Defendant or its insurer, as set forth in the Settlement Agreement. 

 12. This Court preliminarily approves the Fee Award to Class Counsel of $351,094.00 

of the Settlement Fund, inclusive of all past and anticipated future attorneys’ fees, which represents 

33.3% of the Settlement Fund, inclusive of administrative costs and attorney expenses not to 

exceed $22,140.00. 

13. In the event that the Effective Date does not occur, the Settlement and the 

Settlement Agreement shall be deemed null and void and shall have no effect whatsoever. In such 

case, nothing in the Settlement Agreement or this Order shall be relied upon, cited as, constitute 

evidence of, or constitute an admission that class or collective action certification is or may be 

appropriate in this action or any other matter, as set forth in the Settlement Agreement. 

 14. The Court will conduct a Final Approval Hearing on _____________________, 

2021, at _______ a.m./p.m. to determine the overall fairness of the Settlement. The Final Approval 

Hearing may be continued without further notice to Class Members. The Class Representative 
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shall file a motion for approval of the Settlement, and Class Counsel shall file their unopposed 

motion for a Fee Award, Administration Expenses, and the Service Award to the Class 

Representative on or before ________________________, 2021. 

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

 Dated: __________________, 2021 

Hon. Manish S. Shah 

United States District Court Judge