Human Resources service firm Paylocity has become one of the latest vendors of timeclock tech to be targeted by a class action under Illinois' biometrics privacy law.
The company produces software that allows employers to clock in using their fingerprints and handprints, according to the lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court.
"When employers use Paylocity’s Employee Time Tracking Software and an integrated biometric timeclock, workers’ biometric data is captured and uploaded to a Paylocity cloud database and/or web-based platform, where it is managed, maintained, and stored on Paylocity’s hosted environments and servers," the suit claims.
The Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act requires employers to obtain a written release from employees a written release "that notifies them, in writing, that their biometric data was being collected, stored, or otherwise obtained, and specifically why and for how long their biometric data would be collected, stored, and used, as required by," the suit states.
Paylocity failed to obtain that consent, the lawsuit states. It also has failed to provide adequately safeguards for the employee's personal information, the lawsuit states.
"Workers enrolled with Paylocity’s biometric-enabled timeclocks and software (or who have their biometric data maintained or stored by Paylocity) are not told what might happen to their biometric data if and when Paylocity merges with another company, or worse, if and when Paylocity’s business folds, or when the other third parties that have received their biometric data businesses fold," the suit says.
In the past eight years, a growing group of plaintiffs' lawyers have filed thousands of class action lawsuits against businesses operating in Illinois. While the bulk of the lawsuits have targeted employers, a number of the lawsuits have also sought potentially huge paydays from companies that supply so-called biometric timeclocks and other human resources tech to employers.
Paylocity competitors, including ADP, Kronos and Ceridian, for instance, have agreed to pay settlements in recent years worth as much as $25 million to end BIPA-related class actions against them.
The law allows plaintiffs to demand damages of $1,000-$5,000 per violation. The Illinois Supreme Court has issued decisions in the past year directing courts to define individual violations as each time a worker scans a fingerprint or other biometric identifier on a timeclock or other workplace device.
Courts have also rejected arguments from the timeclock vendors that they should not be held liable for the actions of employers who may fail to collect written consent from employees, or provide their workers with notices allegedly required by the law.
The lawsuit against Paylocity also seeks $5,000 for each intentional violation of the law and $1,000 for each negligent violation, plus attorney fees.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Ryan F. Stephan, James B. Zouras, Molly Stemper and Michael Casas, of Stephan Zouras LLP, of Chicago.