More employers have been targeted in Cook County Circuit Court in this most recent round of class-action lawsuits under Illinois' stringent Biometrics Information Privacy Act.
As with many complaints under the BIPA law, these lawsuits target businesses of many sizes. Targets include major food distributors, restaurant and restaurant suppliers, as well as industrial venues.
Current class actions filed from Jan. 4-17 in Cook County Circuit Court include the makers of Bobak's Sausage, as well as restaurateurs El Burrito Loco and 1126 Central Restaurant, which operates several restaurants in Wilmette, Evanston, Libertyville and Chicago. Other lawsuits have been filed against Elgin Die Mold, GoJet, Mickey's Linen, and Midwest Institutional Food Distributors.
Attorneys in this current round include the firms of Peiffer, Wolf, Carr, Kane, Conway & Wise and Beaumont Costales, both of Chicago.
Lawsuits filed include:
- Rodriguez v Bobak Sausage Company, filed by Peiffer Wolf on Jan. 4
- Sotelo v Chicago Dryer Company, filed by Beaumont Costales, Jan. 5
- Diaz v El Burrito Loco of Illinois, Inc., filed by Beaumont Costales, Jan. 9
- Ramirez v Elgin Die Mold, filed by Beaumont Costales, Jan. 5
- Thomas v Mickey's Linen & Towel Supply, Inc., filed by Peiffer Wolf, Jan. 13
- Edwards v Mid-West Institutional Food Distributors Inc., filed by Beaumont Costale, Jan. 17 and
- Estep v 1126 Central Restaurant, LLC and CCH Management, LLC, filed by Beaumont Costales, Jan. 17.
As with thousands of similar complaints filed under BIPA , the lawsuits all generally accuse the defendant employers of improperly requiring workers to scan their fingerprints to verify their identity when punching the time clock to begin and end work shifts, without first securing consent from the workers or providing the workers with notices required under the BIPA law.
The lawsuits are part of a burgeoning trend of similar class actions, accusing employers and other companies of violating the BIPA, and have gained in popularity since 2015, when a small group of plaintiffs' lawyers first used the BIPA law to file such class actions.
The law made national headlines in 2020 and 2021, when over a million Facebook users in Illinois received checks after a major class-action settlement alleging violations of the BIPA law was settled for $650 million. Google then settled similar claims out of court as well, opening the door for Illinois residents to submit claims for a share of a $100 million settlement fund.
BIPA violation class action complaints have continued escalating in Cook County and other Illinois courts. More class action lawsuits continue to fuel the surge in Cook County Circuit Court with parties seeking what can amount to potentially huge payouts from employers accused of BIPA violations.
Under the BIPA law, plaintiffs are allowed to demand damages of $1,000-$5,000 per violation. The law has been interpreted to define individual violations as each instance in which someone’s biometrics are scanned. In employment cases, this could mean employers could be liable for up to $5,000 for each time an employee scanned a fingerprint in the workplace.
What this means, is employers could be looking at potential payouts well into the millions, if not billions of dollars, depending on the size of the company, among other factors, should an employer lose at trial.
These lawsuits have increasingly turned into big settlements for plaintiffs’ lawyers, as employers have struggled to find effective defenses to either fight the allegations in court or, at least, reduce their potential payouts.
Business advocates have noted this is an alarming trend that isn't just for the big players. Lawsuits run the gamut, exposing businesses of all sizes to the threat of litigation potentially massive litigation.
The Illinois Supreme Court has specifically declared plaintiffs need not prove they were actually harmed by improper collection or disclosure of their biometric data to press their potentially massive lawsuits. Compounding this, Illinois courts have also specifically declared that judges should not factor the potentially ruinous payouts faced by businesses when deciding the reach and scope of the BIPA law.
Small businesses looking for workplace efficiency through technology may face the same potential fines as corporate giants without the financial backing to go the distance.
Since March 2022, the state high court and other Illinois judges have rejected efforts to classify workplace BIPA claims as workers’ compensation claims, which would have kicked the cases out of court. The courts have also so far declined to limit how far in the past plaintiffs can claim damages.
Plaintiffs want to wage complaints using a five-year statute of limitations. Defendents argue it should be more like 1 to 2 years.
The Illinois Supreme Court is expected to soon deliver a decision on that question.