CHICAGO — Nursing home Providence Life Services has been hit with a class action lawsuit, accusing it of violating employees' privacy rights by making workers scan their fingerprints when punching in and out of work shifts.
Yvette Johnson filed a complaint, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, on Feb. 13 in Cook County Circuit Court against Rest Haven Illiana Christian Convalescent Home, which does business as Providence Life Services, alleging the nursing home exposed employees to serious privacy risks.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff and class members, which include both current and former Providence employees, have suffered injury from the unlawful collection and storage of their personal data by being required by defendant to scan their fingerprints in its biometric time tracking system as means of authentication, instead of using only key fobs or other identification cards. This allegedly compromised the class members' confidential personal data and exposes them to serious and irreversible privacy risks, threat of identity theft and unauthorized tracking.
The plaintiff asserts this violates the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment against defendant; certification of class action; and award of statutory damages of $1,000-$5,000 per violation, as well as declaratory, injunctive and other equitable relief, attorneys' fees, interest, and further relief. She is represented by David Fish, Seth Matus, Kimberly Hilton and John Kunze of The Fish Law Firm PC in Naperville.
Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 19-CH-1813.