A class action lawsuit accuses Seafood City Markets of allegedly wrongly scanning workers' fingerprints when they punch the clock, allegedly in violation of Illinois' biometrics privacy law.
According to the complaint, the named plaintiff, Robert Smith, worked for Seafood City as a Cook from September 2016 through March 2019 at its location at 5033 North Elston Avenue, Chicago.
The lawsuit accuses the company of unlawfully collecting, using, storing, and disclosing workers' biometric data. The case alleges that the company failed to develop and comply with a retention schedule for permanently destroying biometric identifiers and information. It also claims that Seafood City obtained biometric data without providing adequate written notice or obtaining a written release.
The complaint further alleges that the company shared biometric data without first obtaining the individual’s informed consent and failed to store, transmit, and protect biometric data in a manner as protective as other confidential and sensitive information required in their industry.
The lawsuit asserts all of these were alleged violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.
Seafood City operates in Illinois, Hawaii, California, Nevada, Washington, Texas, and Canada. The company uses a biometric timekeeping system that requires workers to scan their fingerprints when beginning and ending work shifts to monitor time worked by its hourly-paid workers.
The lawsuit claims this practice exposes workers to serious privacy risks if the system containing this highly personal data is hacked or breached.
The lawsuit seeks potentially huge damages under BIPA for these supposed violations. The law permits plaintiffs to demand damages of $1,000-$5,000 per violation. The Illinois Supreme Court has interpreted the BIPA law to define individual violations as each time a user's biometrics are scanned over a period of the preceding five years, not just the first time.
So in this instance, the plaintiffs will seek damages of $1,000-$5,000 per fingerprint scan, not just per employee.
The plaintiffs seek to expand the lawsuit potentially to include everyone who worked for Seafood City in Illinois in the past five years.
The lawsuit does not estimate how many people could be included in the class action.
Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Ryan F. Stephan, James B. Zouras and Danielle M. Sweet, of the firm of Stephan Zouras, of Chicago.