A class action lawsuit accuses trucking firm Crown Point Logistics and affiliated companies of allegedly shorting truck driver pay, while also allegedly improperly using onboard cameras to scan drivers' faces while on the job, among other alleged violations of labor laws.
On April 4, attorney Marni Willenson, of Willenson Law, of Chicago, filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of a group of named plaintiffs, including Locite Smith, Barbara Jean McGhee, Brian Williams, Kanesha Smith, Trevonte Neville, Tamal Miller, Michael Cray, Michelle Ayala, Charidy Young and Donald Lorick. They are also seeking to expand the lawsuit to include a class of additional plaintiffs who have worked for Crown Point.
The lawsuit accuses Crown Point of a litany of alleged workplace labor code violations, including alleged failure to pay minimum wages and overtime wages in violation of Illinois Minimum Wage Law and the Fair Labor Standards Act, and failure to timely pay all wages due in violation of Wage Payment and Collection Act.
They further accuse the company of allegedly violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, by allegedly installing an onboard camera system in their trucks to monitor drivers, allegedly without first obtaining the drivers' consent or providing certain written notices to drivers before using the cameras to allegedly repeatedly scan drivers' faces while on the job.
The plaintiffs are demanding unpaid wages and overtime, theft of wages, unjust enrichment, equitable reformation of contract, liquidated damages, statutory fines, attorneys’ fees and costs, as well as interest. Specifically, along with the other damages, the plaintiffs are asking the court to order the defendants to pay damages under their BIPA claims of $1,000-$5,000 per alleged violation of the BIPA law. The Illinois Supreme Court has interpreted the BIPA law to define individual violations of BIPA as each time someone's biometrics are scanned without first obtaining notice and consent. This could mean the company could face potentially massive liability when multiplied across at least 300 drivers who allegedly worked for Crown Point in the past five years. It is unknown how many times the company may have allegedly scanned drivers' faces per day or total.
Defendants named in the lawsuit include Ovidiu Astalus; Crown Point Logistics LLC; Crown Point Freight; Syny Logistics Inc.; Crown Point Truck And Trailer Sales Inc.; Zuba Logistics LLC; and Crown Point Truck And Trailer Repair Center Inc.