Another workplace timeclock vendor has been targeted by a class action under Illinois' biometrics privacy law, this time against workforce management software developer Smartlinx Solution.
Named plaintiff Marquavion Kyles filed suit on Aug. 1 in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of himself and others against Smartlinx Solution.
Founded in 2000, Smartlinx is focused in the healthcare industry as a vendor of workforce and human capital management software. The company offers products focused on talent acquisition and onboarding, human resources, benefits and payroll, time and attendance, scheduling, compliance and business analytics.
According to the complaint, a key product Smartlinx markets and develops are so-called biometric timekeeping devices which require employees to scan fingerprints to verify their identities when clocking in and out of work.
Kyles is accusing Smartlinx of violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act by allegedly sharing his and others' scanned fingerprints without collecting prior consent or making available retention and destruction schedules, and for supposed improper storage and destruction of individuals' biometric data, as required by the BIPA law.
Kyles is represented by attorneys Ryan F. Stephan, James B. Zouras and Michael Casas, of the firm of Stephan Zouras, of Chicago.
Smartlinx joins the long and growing list of businesses targeted by a string of class action lawsuits under the BIPA law.
As with the thousands of other complaints filed under BIPA , similar lawsuits all generally accuse the defendant entities of requiring the collection of biometric data, which can include fingerprint scans, facial recognition, retinal scans, or voice recordings, without first securing consent from the user or providing them with notices required. Under BIPA, plaintiffs are allowed to demand damages of $1,000-$5,000 per violation in which someone’s biometrics are scanned.
The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled individual violations under the law could include every time an employee scans a fingerprint in the workplace, for instance. Thus, damages could amount to $1,000 or $5,000 multiplied across entire workforces scanning their fingerprints multiple times per day, threatening employers with damages worth many millions or even billions of dollars, depending on the size of the company and its presence in Illinois.
In addition to direct employers and social media companies like Facebook, Google and Snap, the lawsuits have also targeted the vendors who supply the timeclock technology used by employers.
Several major workforce management tech companies, including Kronos and ADP, have already settled certain class actions against them. ADP settled for $25 million in 2021, while Kronos agreed to pay $15 million in 2022. Other timeclock vendors have settled for around $3.5 million each.
In each of the settlements, lawyers who bring the lawsuits typically claim attorney fees equal to about one third of the settlement funds.
The Stephan Zouras firm also helped lead several of those class actions, including the suits against Kronos and ADP.