A former employee of a Kansas-based company that specializes in installing and operating vending kiosk “micromarkets” in break rooms and work spaces across the country has dialed up a class action lawsuit, accusing the company of violating Illinois’ biometric privacy law.
On March 25, lawyers with the firm of McGuire Law P.C., of Chicago, filed a class action complaint in Cook County Circuit against Myron Green Corporation.
The Merriam, Kan.-based company installs and operates, through partnerships, its Company Kitchen line of self-service vending-machine based markets and cafes. The so-called micromarkets are found in work places throughout the U.S.
According to its website, Company Kitchen’s clients include Lowes, John Deere, 3M, Bimbo Bakeries, Geico, FedEx, P&G, Comcast and more.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of named plaintiff Rosalinda Jay, accuses Myron Green of violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.
According to the lawsuit, Jay worked at Myron Green’s location in Rock Island. The complaint does not specify where Jay lived, except to say she is an Illinois resident. The complaint also does not state the position held by Jay at Myron Green, nor when she worked there.
The complaint accuses Myron Green of failing to secure workers’ authorization and not providing workers’ with various written notifications before requiring workers to scan so-called biometric identifiers to verify their identities when punching in and out of work shifts. The complaint does not specify which biometric identifiers workers were required to scan. However, typically, companies using biometric time clocks require workers to scan their fingerprints when punching the clock, to reduce so-called “punch fraud.”
The complaint seeks to expand the lawsuit to include virtually everyone who worked for Myron Green in Illinois.
The lawsuit seeks damages of $1,000-$5,000 per violation, as allowed under BIPA. In similar cases involving BIPA, attorneys for both plaintiffs and defendants have noted violations can be defined to include each time an employee punches the clock.
Hundreds of similar class action lawsuits have been filed against employers of all sizes and types in Illinois in the past few years under the 2008 BIPA law.
Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 20-CH-03513