A Brookfield, Wis.-based staffing company has been targeted by a class action lawsuit under Illinois’ biometrics privacy law, accusing the company of wrongly requiring workers to scan their fingerprints when punching the clock each day.
On Jan. 14, attorneys Aaron M. Zigler and Alex J. Dravillas, of the firm of Keller Lenkner LLC, of Chicago, filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court against QPS Employment Group Inc.
The lawsuit, on behalf of named plaintiff Elissha Boughton, identified as a resident of Winnebago County, Wis., accused QPS of violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.
According to its website, QPS operates staffing office locations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Maryland. In Illinois, the website said QPS operates offices in Gurnee, Rockford and Quincy.
According to the lawsuit, Boughton worked through QPS at an unidentified manufacturing facility in north suburban Waukegan, where she was required to “use a fingerprint-based timekeeping system” to track her work hours.
However, the complaint asserted QPS did not provide workers with notices required under the Illinois BIPA law, nor did the company secure written authorization before requiring workers to use the biometric punch clock devices.
The plaintiffs are seeking to expand their action to include a class of additional plaintiffs including all QPS workers in Illinois who used QPS’ fingerprint-scanning time clock devices. The complaint estimates it could include hundreds of additional plaintiffs.
The lawsuit seeks damages of $1,000-$5,000 per violation, plus attorney fees and other damages.
Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 2020-CH-00488