CHICAGO — Employees have filed a class action lawsuit against nursing facility Plymouth Place, alleging their employer violated a state privacy law by making them scan their fingerprints when they punch in and out of work shifts.
Michael Keene filed a complaint, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, on Feb. 14 in Cook County Circuit Court against Plymouth Place and Kronos Inc., alleging they failed to exercise care in protecting employees' personal information under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges Plymouth's policies led to the unlawful collection, storage and use of class members' biometric data without providing written guidelines, schedule of destruction, and consent from class members. The lawsuit further asserts Plymouth Place did not pay overtime wages and placed Keene on indefinite suspension and terminated him for complaining about the alleged unpaid wages.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment against defendant; certification of class action; award of statutory damages of $5,000 for each willful violation and $1,000 for each negligent violation; declaratory, injuctive, and equitable relief; compensatory and punitive damages; interest, attorneys' fees, costs, and litigation expenses; and further relief.
He is represented by attorneys Ryan Stephan and James Zouras of Stephan Zouras LLP in Chicago.
Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 19-CH-1953.