Park Forest's Autumn Ridge Apartments and Townhomes is being sued in a class action suit for allegedly violating the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act (BIPA).
According to the complaint filed Feb. 5, named plaintiff Leroy Payton alleges he was among employees at Autumn Ridge who were required to track their work hours by scanning their fingerprints on a so-called biometric timeclock when punching in and out of work shifts.
The suit is alleging that Autumn Ridge failed to provide the proper policies and prior notice before asking its new employees to use their biometric data for timekeeping.
The complaint alleges Autumn Ridge failed to abide by the law's requirements that companies and employers who use their customers' or employees' biometric data first obtain informed written consent before collecting the biometrics, and provide clear intent of use as well as policies on retention and destruction after employment ends.
The suit is charging Autumn Ridge with four counts of BIPA violations for each affected employee. The complaint demands $1,000-$5,000 in damages per violation, as allowed under the BIPA law. Violations can be defined as each time a worker scanned their fingerprint when punching the clock.
The complaint asserts Autumn Ridge may have saved "hundreds" of scanned worker fingerprints in recent years.
The lawsuit was filed by attorney Michael Drew of Neighborhood Legal LLC in Chicago.