A former employee has filed a class action lawsuit against a tortilla manufacturing company, alleging that the company violated Illinois' biometrics privacy law in the way it required workers to use a fingerprint reader system to track time.
Plaintiff Juan Aguilar, a Chicago resident, filed a class action lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against El Popotocatepetl Industries and Ema Group, alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act (BIPA).
According to the complaint, Aguilar was an employee and worked for the defendants from 1998 until March 2023. He claims that during his employment, the defendants utilized a biometric time clock system that required employees to scan their fingerprints for time tracking purposes.
The complaint states that BIPA requires that prior to collecting biometric data, including fingerprints, companies inform employees in writing that their biometric data will be collected and stored. It also states that employees must be informed in writing of the specific purpose for which the biometric data is being collected and for how long it will be stored. Additionally, BIPA requires that companies receive a written release from the employee for the collection of their biometric data and requires that they develop and release a publicly available retention schedule with guidelines for permanently destroying the biometric data.
According to Aguilar, the defendants violated BIPA by failing to develop and release a publicly available retention schedule with guidelines for permanently destroying the biometric data; failing to obtain written releases from employees notifying them that their biometric data was being collected, and specifically, why and for how long their biometric data would be stored; failing to obtain employee's informed consent before disclosing their biometrics to third parties; and failing to properly store and protect employee's biometric data. Aguilar argues that the defendants' actions expose employees to potential significant privacy risks, including identity theft and unauthorized tracking.
Aguilar seeks certification of his class action lawsuit to represent individuals whose fingerprints were scanned into the defendants' timekeeping system. He is seeking damages of $1,000–$5,000 per alleged violation for himself and everyone in his class action lawsuit, plus interest, attorney's fees, court costs and any other relief the court deems proper.
The Illinois Supreme Court has interpreted the BIPA law to allow plaintiffs to demand damages for each time an employee may be required to scan their fingerprints at work, without limit, going back over the preceding five years. Depending on the number of workers included in the lawsuit, potential damages could amount to many millions of dollars.
The plaintiff is represented by attorneys Daniel Schlade and James Dore, of Justicia Laboral LLC in Chicago.