CHICAGO – A worker has filed a lawsuit against an Illinois restaurant supply company, alleging that the company violates Illinois biometric privacy laws by using biometric cameras to monitor employees.
Plaintiff Antonio Cardona filed a class action lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against Restaurant Technologies, alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).
According to court documents, Cardona is a current or previous employee of Restaurant Technologies, an Illinois restaurant supply company. He claims that the company uses biometric cameras to monitor his work and that of his co-workers. The company allegedly has a separate biometric camera for each worker that scans and stores their facial geometry.
The lawsuit does not specify where Cardona lives, nor in what capacity he was allegedly employed by the defendant.
The lawsuit asserts that the BIPA law requires that prior to collecting biometric data, including facial geometry scans, companies must inform employees in writing that biometric data will be collected and stored. It further alleges that employees must be informed in writing of the specific purpose of why the biometric data is being collected and how long it will be stored, and companies must receive a written release from employees for the collection of biometric data.
Cardona claims that Restaurant Technologies failed to inform employees in writing that their data was being collected and stored; failed to inform employees in writing how the data would be used and how long the data would be stored; failed to obtain employee consent to collect their biometric data; failed to provide employees with access to a retention schedule or guidelines for permanently destroying their biometric data; and failed to disclose the identities of any third parties that the company was directly or indirectly sharing the biometric data with.
Cardona is seeking certification of his class action lawsuit to represent individuals whose biometrics were scanned into Restaurant Technology's system. He is seeking damages of $1,000–$5,000 per alleged violation for himself and everyone in the class action lawsuit, plus interest, attorney's fees, and other relief.
The payout in the case could quickly multiply. 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 quickly climb into the many millions of dollars.
He is represented by attorneys William H. Beaumont and Roberto Luis Costales, of Beaumont Costales, in Chicago.