Renta 4 | Grifols would be facing a class action on the part of 54.000 donors in the state of Illinois, in the United States. The plaintiffs are arguing that Grifols has not complied with the state’s Biometric Privacy Law, since they have demanded that donors provide their fingerprints, not destroy this information and exceed the specific objective for which it was registered. According to the plaintiffs this violated their rights.
A judge from the Northern District in Illinois has ruled in favour of the plaintiffs, turning a deaf ear to Grifols’ arguments. The judge has alleged that the Illinois Privacy Law takes priority over the rules for plasma recollection, in which the FDA obliges that a register of donors be kept, which gives those affected a free hand to present their lawsuit.
According to the state law, the fine for non-compliance could oscilate between 1000 and 5000 dollars per affected party. At the moment, the suit would include 54.000 donors, but this number could rise to over 100.000 if donors from other companies in the group were included. So the final fine, in a worst case scenario, could be more than 500 million dollars. That said, it is expected that in the event of Grifols finally being sanctioned and obliged to pay out, this is more likely be in the low range of 1000 dollars per claimant. So the total would be between 54 and 100 million dollars.
Valuation:
Bad news for Grifols for various reasons. Firstly, the possible economic damage from the sanction. Secondly, the bad publicity arising from the violation of the privacy laws and, thirdly, the fact that Grifols is involved in a confrontation with its donors, whom it recurrently remunerates and could lose. On the other hand, we understand that Grifols has arguments with which to defend itself in this case. However, even so, it is likely that the courts will rule against it. And we understand this sentence would be appealed to the maximum extent possible.
