A class action lawsuit has accused casual athletic apparel company Puma North America of improperly collecting, storing and using employees' biometric data, allegedly in violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).
The lawsuit was filed March 1 in Cook County Circuit Court by attorney J. Eli Wade-Scott, of the Edelson P.C. law firm. The plaintiffs' class is represented by named plaintiff Joselyn Ramos, identified as a former Puma employee in the Chicago area.
According to the complaint,the plaintiff and other Puma workers were required to scan their fingerprints to verify their identity to clock in and out for work shifts.
Ramos alleges that Puma violated BIPA by failing to inform her and other employees of their intent in collecting, storing and using employee fingerprints; failing to have employees sign a written release allowing the company to store their fingerprints; and failing to offer a publicly available policy outlining retention and destruction protocols for fingerprints of people no longer employed by Puma.
The lawsuit requests damages of $1,000 for each negligent BIPA violation and $5,000 for each intentional or reckless BIPA violation per class member, plus attorney fees. The BIPA law has been interpreted to define individual violations as each time workers scan a fingerprint on a company timeclock.