Seven businesses were added this week to the fast-growing list of employers targeted by class action lawsuits under Illinois’ biometrics privacy law.
The targeted employers included an oil change shop; a logistics and shipping firm; an insurance company; a catering company; a cheese seller and distributor; and a Chicago nightclub, already embroiled in a long-running court fight with Chicago City Hall over unrelated concerns.
The lawsuits, filed from Feb. 25-Feb. 27, all accused the employers of violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.
According to the lawsuits, the employers forced employees to scan their biometric identifiers, including fingerprints and facial geometry, to verify their identities when clocking in and out work shifts and to track their work hours accurately.
However, the lawsuits assert, the employers did not first obtain written authorization from the employees or provide written notice to the workers concerning how their scanned biometric information would be stored, used, shared or destroyed, among other information allegedly required by the BIPA law.
According to statistics cited in other court filings, more than 500 such class action lawsuits have been filed in Cook County Circuit Court and other Illinois courts against employers and other businesses in the last three years alone.
The lawsuit filings surged in 2019 following an Illinois Supreme Court ruling which declared plaintiffs don’t need to show they were ever actually harmed by a business’ collection of their biometric identifiers before bringing lawsuits potentially worth millions of dollars.
Under the law, plaintiffs can demand damages of $1,000-$5,000 per violation, with individual violations defined as each time a worker scans their fingerprint, facial geometry or other biometric identifiers when punching the clock or verifying their identity when accessing specific areas within a workplace.
Multiplied over potentially hundreds of workers per company, damages can quickly climb into the many millions of dollars, should the cases go to trial.
The new lawsuits included complaints against:
- Valvoline LLC, which was sued by attorneys with the firm of Keller Lenkner, of Chicago, on behalf of plaintiff Kevin Horne. According to the complaint, Horne worked for Valvoline at an oil change center in Cahokia, in downstate St. Clair County, from May 2019-December 2019.
- Logistics and transportation company DSV Air & Sea Inc. According to the complaint, they are being sued by attorneys from the firm of Kozonis & Klinger Ltd., of Chicago, on behalf of plaintiff Daniela Suren. The complaint says Suren worked at DSV’s facility in Sauk Village from Sept. 2019-February 2020.
- American Freedom Insurance Company, of Mt. Prospect. According to the complaint, they are being sued by attorneys with the Kozonis Klinger firm on behalf of named plaintiff Kevin Ramos, who allegedly worked for the company from January 2016-August 2016.
- Temporary staffing company HR Metrics. According to the complaint, filed by attorneys with the firm of Stephan Zouras, of Chicago, the company is being sued by named plaintiff Jenita Howell, who worked as a temporary kitchen sanitary worker at a distribution center operated by Trader Joe’s in Minooka. According to the complaint, Howell worked at the distribution center from July 2015-December 2015, and again from February 2019-December 2019.
- Catering company Food Evolution, which is known corporately as RT Wholesale Catering Company. The complaint was filed by attorneys with the firm of Hughes Socol Piers Resnick Dym Ltd., of Chicago, on behalf of named plaintiff Crispin Calderon Sotelo. According to the complaint, Sotelo worked for the company, at its facilities in Schiller Park and Franklin Park, from July 2017-June 2019.
- Cheese Merchants of America. The complaint was filed by attorney David Fish of the Fish Law Firm P.C., of Naperville, on behalf of named plaintiff Zack Wypych. According to the complaint, Wypych worked for the Bartlett-based Cheese Merchants at the company’s distribution center until 2020. The complaint does not specify precise start or end dates for his employment.
- Bottled Blonde Chicago. The complaint, filed by the Stephan Zouras firm, was brought on behalf of named plaintiff Adam Mitchell, who has worked as a security guard at the nightclub at 504 N. Wells, in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. The club has been in court defending itself against attempts by the city of Chicago to shut it down over noise, traffic and safety complaints.