CHICAGO – A White Castle worker has served the fast food chain with a class action lawsuit, accusing the company of improperly requiring its workers to scan their fingerprints for use with a punch clock system, allegedly without first obtaining written authorization as required by an Illinois privacy law.
Latrina Cothron, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, filed a complaint on Nov. 26 in Cook County Circuit Court against White Castle, and Cross Match Technologies Inc. over alleged violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.
According to the complaint, Cothron was hired by White Castle and the company uses its DigitalPersona employee database, which requires a fingerprint scan. The suit states the defendants disregard White Castle employees' protected privacy rights and unlawfully collect, store, disseminate and use employees' biometric data in violation of the BIPA.
The plaintiff alleges defendants failed to inform their employees that it discloses their fingerprint data to other, currently unknown, third parties; failed to inform White Castle employees of the purposes and duration for which it collects their sensitive biometric data; and failed to obtain written releases from White Castle employees before collecting their fingerprints.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment for statutory damages of $5,000, injunctive relief, attorney fees, costs, pre- and post-judgment interest, and further relief. She is represented by Ryan F. Stephan and Andrew C. Ficzko of Stephan Zouras LLP in Chicago.
Cook County Circuit Court case number 18-CH-15233