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Nate works as an insurance defense attorney, focusing on products liability law and asbestos defense litigation in Missouri and Illinois. He has extensive experience advocating for a broad range of national businesses, including manufacturers, premises owners, and contractors during all phases of litigation with the ultimate goal of mitigating and eliminating legal risk. He has also represented a variety of local professionals and entities, including retail owners, medical professionals, design professionals, financial planners, and construction contractors. He regularly appears for contested motions and trial settings in the circuit courts of Missouri and Illinois, including St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Madison County, and McLean County.

Prior to working at Rasmussen Dickey Moore, Nate gained experience as a law student extern at the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas and as an extern clerk for the Honorable Carlos Murguia of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas.

Outside of his legal practice, Nate is the President of Dutchtown Main Streets, an economic development nonprofit in South St. Louis city’s densest neighborhood that promotes a thriving community through shared prosperity. In 2017, he helped establish the Dutchtown Community Improvement District, the largest community-driven CID in Missouri. Nate, his wife Staci, and their son Thaddeus are active parishioners at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Dutchtown.

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Litigation in St. Louis, Madison County, and more.

Let Nate and the team at RDM put their experience to work for you. When you face claims in the challenging jurisdictions of Greater St. Louis and the Metro East areas, count on RDM to handle your case.

Education

  • University of Kansas

    Juris Doctor 2012

  • Grinnell College

    Bachelor of Arts 2008

Admissions

  • State of Missouri
  • State of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court Eastern District of Missouri
  • U.S. District Court Southern District of Illinois

Civic
Activities

RDM's Knowledge Blog Posts by Nathan A. Lindsey

Recreational marijuana sales have begun in Missouri.

Recreational marijuana sales have started in Missouri following the passage of Amendment 3, shaking up the landscape for drug enforcement policies in Missouri as some employer actions in relation to employee use of marijuana are now prohibited by law.

Beyond making recreational use legal for those 21 years and older, Amendment 3 included new protections for medical marijuana cardholders prohibiting employers from discriminating or taking adverse action against an employee for off-employment site use of marijuana during non-work hours or testing positive for marijuana. This provision aligns with the protections other states have incorporated for medical marijuana users. For example, in Massachusetts and Connecticut, employers must have reasonable accommodations for medical marijuana patients. See Barbuto v. Advantage Sales and Marketing, LLC, 78 N.E.3d 37 (Mass. 2017), and see Conn. Gen. Stat. §21a-408p; Del. Code tit. 16, §4905A

Despite these protections, Missouri’s Amendment 3 still allows an employer to enforce a drug-free policy if the failure to enforce a policy results in monetary or licensing-related benefits under federal law. In addition, employers can also enforce a drug-free policy if the use of marijuana would impair the employee’s ability to perform job-related responsibilities, impair the safety of others, or conflict with occupational qualifications related to employment.

Notably, there are no further protections for recreational marijuana users without medical cards, meaning employees seeking these protections should ensure they have valid medical cards. Employers may still generally enforce drug-free policies against employees who are not medical card holders. Likewise, there is no change to an employer’s ability to terminate an employee who is under the influence of marijuana while at work. However, given the lack of reliable testing to measure recent marijuana use or impairment, employers should use caution.

Amendment 3 also included language allowing for certain marijuana-related criminal offenses to be expunged. Misdemeanor marijuana offenses are set to automatically be expunged by the courts, while felony convictions of possession of up to three pounds of marijuana are to be expunged within a year. In cases of possession of more than three pounds, the person seeking expungement must personally petition the court, but only after they have completed a sentence, probation, or parole period. There has been some skepticism regarding the ability of courts to meet these deadlines, and a supplemental budget has been requested to pay the state’s court clerks overtime to review.

Missouri employers should evaluate their current drug testing policies and practices to ensure they are in line with the new protections for medical marijuana cardholders adopted after the passage of Amendment 3. Policies related to impairment while at work should also be evaluated and documented if they are not. Rasmussen Dickey Moore’s employment attorneys closely watch new laws that affect Missouri employers. Call on us to ensure your employment policies are compliant with new recreational marijuana laws to make sure that you, your business, and your employees are protected.

RDM attorney Nate Lindsey, winner of the 2022 Up and Coming Award.

Congratulations to RDM member attorney Nathan Lindsey! Nate has received Missouri Lawyers Media’s 2022 Up & Coming Award, an honor for outstanding attorneys who are under 40 or have been practicing for less than ten years. The award will be presented at a ceremony on October 14th.

Nate works primarily as an insurance defense attorney at Rasmussen Dickey Moore’s Downtown St. Louis office. His primary focus is on products liability law and asbestos defense litigation in Missouri and Illinois. He has extensive experience advocating for a broad range of national businesses, including manufacturers, premises owners, and contractors, during all phases of litigation with the ultimate goal of mitigating and eliminating legal risk.

Nate has also represented a variety of local professionals and entities, including retail owners, medical professionals, design professionals, financial planners, and construction contractors. He regularly appears for contested motions and trial settings in the circuit courts of Missouri and Illinois.

Nate began his career at RDM as a summer clerk in the Kansas City office while attending the University of Kansas School of Law, where he graduated in 2012. After becoming a full-fledged associate, Nate was tasked with establishing RDM’s new St. Louis office across the state. Nate quickly ascended the ranks to become a member of the firm in the following years and is currently the managing partner of the St. Louis office.

Prior to working at Rasmussen Dickey Moore, Nate gained experience as a law student extern at the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas and as an extern clerk for the Honorable Carlos Murguia of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas.

Leading Diversity and Mentorship Efforts

Along with member attorney Justin Ijei, Nate co-chairs RDM’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. The committee aims to lift the voices of young and diverse attorneys at the firm and to help those young attorneys take charge of their careers through mentorship and business development opportunities. Nate has presented at CLE seminars on the subject of diversity, equity, and inclusion at small and mid-sized law firms, as RDM has developed a reputation as a leader in promoting diversity at smaller firms.

Commitment to Community

Outside of his legal practice, Nate is the President of Dutchtown Main Streets, an economic development nonprofit in South St. Louis’ densest neighborhood that promotes a thriving community through shared prosperity. Dutchtown is among the most racially and socioeconomically diverse neighborhoods in St. Louis.

Nate has been at the forefront of efforts to return vibrancy to a neighborhood that faced decline and disinvestment. In 2017, he helped establish the Dutchtown Community Improvement District, the largest community-driven CID in Missouri. Working alongside a diverse crew of neighbors, non-profit partners, and government officials, he has overseen vast improvements to the neighborhood: newly-filled storefronts, rehabbed and occupied homes, major capital improvements to Marquette Park, the Louisiana Calm Streets Project, and a host of family-oriented community events.

Nate, his wife Staci, and their sons Thaddeus and Francis are active parishioners at the historic St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Dutchtown.

The Freedom Suits Memorial at the Civil Courts building in St. Louis.

This June, the Circuit Courts of St. Louis dedicated “Freedom’s Home,” a bronze statue memorializing the history of freedom suits in St. Louis. The four-ton bronze statue, sculpted by Preston Jackson, sits on the east side plaza of the Civil Courts Building in Downtown St. Louis. The black granite base of the statue is inscribed with the names of 330 people who petitioned for their freedom.

The Freedom Suits Memorial at the Civil Courts building in Downtown St. Louis.

Previously, RDM member attorney Nathan Lindsey wrote about the history of freedom suits in St. Louis. Beginning in 1824 with Winny v. Whitesides and continuing until the 1857 Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford, over 300 enslaved Black people sued for their freedom in Missouri, with roughly half of them prevailing in their petitions. Many of these cases were filed at the Old Courthouse, located at the doorstep of RDM’s St. Louis office.

The petitions were grounded in the “once free, always free” doctrine established in Winny. The case established that when an enslaved person was taken to a free state or territory such as Illinois, that freedom became permanent. The petitioners faced a cumbersome legal process to sue for that freedom, but many persevered, filed suits, and, in some cases, won the freedom to which they were entitled.

The unveiling of the freedom suits memorial coincided with Juneteenth, which commemorates the 1865 announcement of the end of slavery in Texas. Declared a federal holiday in 2021, Juneteenth celebrates not only the emancipation of enslaved Black people but African-American culture as well.

A fingerprint being scanned for security. Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) regulates the collection and usage of biometric data by private entities.

The Illinois Supreme Court has answered a long-awaited question regarding the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) and its interaction with the state’s workers’ compensation statute. In McDonald v. Symphony Bronzeville Park, LLC, the Supreme Court addressed a certified question from the Court of Appeals to determine whether the Worker’s Compensation exclusivity provisions bar an employee’s claims filed under BIPA. The Court distinguished those workplace injuries suffered that were subject to the exclusivity provision, reasoning that a BIPA violation “is not the type of injury that categorically fits within the purview of the Compensation Act and is thus not compensable under the Compensation Act.”

In doing so, the Supreme Court removed what had previously been the prevailing defense for employers accused of technical violations of BIPA. The Court stated, “We are cognizant of the substantial consequences the legislature intended as a result of [BIPA] violations. Pursuant to [BIPA], the General Assembly has adopted a strategy to limit the risks posed by the growing use of biometrics by businesses and the difficulty in providing meaningful recourse once a person’s biometric identifiers or biometric information has been compromised.”

This dictum strengthens the recent holdings of Illinois’s Appellate courts, which have weighed in on the BIPA ruling on an expansive definition for when a claim accrues and leaving open the question of how to calculate damages for successive violations. This question may need to be addressed on remand in the McDonald case, which involves the repeated scanning of an employee’s fingerprint to keep track of worked time.

What constitutes biometric information and how does BIPA protect it?

Illinois enacted the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act in 2008 to create a private tort action in response to privacy violations related to biometric data. BIPA states a “Biometric Identifier” means a retina or iris scan, fingerprint, voiceprint, or scan of hand or face geometry.

Given the rise of biometric data used across industries such as transportation, finance, hospitality, retail, and education, all businesses must be keenly aware of the requirements under the act. Any private entity which collects biometric information must:

  • Create a publicly available policy on its biometric data practices;
  • Provide disclosures;
  • Obtain releases from individuals for whom biometric identifiers are collected before the collection occurs; and
  • Use a reasonable standard of care based on industry to store, transmit, and protect the information.

Who can make a BIPA claim?

The Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act is written broadly to protect any individual (consumers, employees, etc.) who might have a biometric identifier collected by a private entity.

Importantly, in a watershed 2019 decision by the Illinois Supreme Court in Rosenbach v. Six Flags Entertainment Corp., the Court’s unanimous decision settled a circuit split among Illinois appellate courts regarding the pleading standard for demonstrating a claimant was “aggrieved” under the act determining a claimant need not plead actual harm to recover under the statute.

Six Flags had a practice of collecting fingerprints for pass membership to their amusement park but had not complied with the notice and consent provisions of BIPA. The Second District Illinois Appellate Court dismissed the claim given there was no breach and consequently no actual harm demonstrated. However, the Illinois Supreme Court reversed the decision, finding that “aggrieved” under BIPA included technical violations of the statutory requirements because they created substantive rights. 

“Such a characterization, however, misapprehends the nature of the harm our legislature is attempting to combat through this legislation. The Act vests in individuals and customers the right to control their biometric information by requiring notice before collection and giving them the power to say no by withholding consent.”

The Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act has distinct subparts which could each constitute individual violations:

  • Failing to develop a written policy under 15(a);
  • Failing to provide written notice of collection under 15(b);
  • Profiting from the biometric data under 15(c);
  • Unlawfully disclosing the biometric identifier under 15(d); or
  • Not taking reasonable care in storing, transmitting, or otherwise protecting the information under 15(e).

When does a BIPA claim accrue?

In Watson v. Legacy Healthcare Financial Services, LLC et al., the First District Illinois Appellate Court determined that a claim does not accrue on only the initial capture of a claimant’s biometric data but at the time of each individual capture.

What are the damages in a BIPA claim?

The court in Watson did not address whether each capture represented a separate violation under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act or how multiple captures of biometric data might affect monetary damages under BIPA, which establishes damages in the amount of $1,000 for each negligent violation and up to $5,000 for intentional or reckless violations. A claimant is entitled to seek more if their actual damages would exceed the statutory amount. 

In enacting the law, the Illinois General Assembly expressly noted that “[b]iometrics are unlike other unique identifiers that are used to access finances or other sensitive information. For example, Social Security numbers, when compromised, can be changed. Biometrics, however, are biologically unique to the individual; therefore, once compromised, the individual has no recourse, is at heightened risk for identity theft, and is likely to withdraw from biometric-facilitated transactions.”

Biometric Information Privacy outside of Illinois

Currently, only the states of Arkansas, California, Texas, and Washington have enacted legislation similar to Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act. Additionally, several large cities have adopted their own biometric technology regulations, including New York City, San Francisco, Baltimore, and Portland, Oregon.

Numerous other legislatures, including Missouri, have bills in the works to adopt BIPA-like legislation in the future.

Protect yourself from BIPA claims

Technology evolves, and so does the law. Whether your business is on the cutting edge or keeping up with the times, it’s imperative that you have skilled counsel on your side. The attorneys at Rasmussen Dickey Moore can help your business maintain compliance and stay out of the courtroom or work to extricate you from litigation should it arise. Contact RDM today to protect your business from BIPA claims.

Books in a law library. RDM carefully studies contract language and contract law to ensure our clients know what they're signing.

The Eastern District of Missouri recently highlighted the importance of plain language, or the ordinary meaning doctrine, which suggests words in contracts should be given their everyday meaning unless the context of the contract indicates an alternative.

Pelopidas v. Keller

Pelopidas v. Keller involved a dispute between a previously married couple and their respective interest in a company. After divorcing, the couple agreed to retain their respective 50% ownership of the Pelopidas holding company. One spouse remained the owner/manager of the company and the other was an owner/employee drawing salary and benefits.

The owner/employee brought claims for breach of fiduciary duty in 2016. Ultimately, the owner/manager ex-spouse resigned from the company in 2019 and the company’s largest client and primary source of revenue terminated its business relationship with Pelopidas. Following these events, the parties mediated the lawsuit and entered into a written agreement titled “Memorandum of Settlement” outlining an agreed transfer of interest from the owner/employee to the owner/manager in exchange for a monetary payment.

The contract language included “Plaintiff’s stock shall be surrendered/sold, escrowed and pledged back to Plaintiff” and included a payment schedule over three and a half years. There was no effective date for the transfer of the owner/employee’s interest. In early 2020, the parties reached an impasse regarding finalizing the settlement and transfer of stock. The owner/employee then filed suit to enforce her version of the transfer of stock settlement which included a different effective date than that proposed by the owner/manager. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the owner/manager on the grounds that the effective date of the transfer of stock was the date in which the settlement was executed. The owner/employee appealed.

The Eastern District reversed the trial court’s ruling, instead directing the court to enter summary judgment in favor of the owner/employee. The Eastern District stated, “It is well established that the cardinal principle for contract interpretation is to ascertain the intention of the parties and to give effect to that intent.  To that end we use the plain, ordinary, and usual meaning of the contract’s words and consider the document as a whole.”

What’s The Difference Between Language of Performance and Language of Obligation?

The appeals court went on to determine the plain meaning of the use of “shall be” in relation to the transfer of the stock to determine the intent for whether it imposed a future obligation or immediate performance. The Court stated, “very simply, it is the only reasonable interpretation of the words “shall be” in [the contract clause], which clearly commands that each of these requirements occur sometime after [the date the settlement was executed].”

The Court went on to cite to the American Bar Association’s A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting which notes the differences between language of performance and language of obligation.

Language of Performance: Expresses actions accomplished by means of signing the contract itself, is typically accomplished by use of the word “hereby.”

Language of Obligation: States any duty a contract imposes on one or more parties and is typically accomplished by use of the word “shall” or “will.”

The Court noted that this plain language interpretation is reinforced by the fact that the dismissal of the underlying lawsuit was accomplished with the same language “shall be” with the intent that the lawsuit be dismissed at a future date following the execution of the supplemental documentation related to stock transfer.

“Hereby” vs. “Shall Be”

The takeaway lesson for businesses and contract drafters is to avoid utilizing any language of obligation if the intent of the parties is to effectuate the date of the agreement at the time of execution. In fact, the ABA manual specifically states in Section 3.72, that the word “shall” should not be used to express anything other than language of obligation in a contract. The alternative language to effectuate the date of the stock transfer as the date of the settlement execution could have been, “Plaintiff’s stock is hereby surrendered/sold, escrowed and shall be pledged back to Plaintiff.”

When drafting a contract, the details are of utmost importance. RDM’s Business Law Team understands the ins and outs of complex contractual agreements and can help you ensure that what you see is what you get. Contact RDM before you sign on the dotted line.