Society Insurance has filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court seeking a declaratory judgment that it is not obligated to provide insurance coverage to Cermak Produce, a Chicago-area supermarket chain, in connection with a class action lawsuit.
The class action, initiated by Robert Crawford in March 2024, alleges violations of Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by Cermak Produce for collecting and storing employees' biometric data without proper consent. According to court documents, Crawford worked for Cermak Produce from May 2020 to March 2021.
That lawsuit argued Cermak Produce required workers to scan fingerprints to verify their identities when punching the clock at the beginning and end of work shifts without first securing written consent from the workers and without providing certain notices required under the law concerning how Cermak might use and ultimately destroy the fingerprint scans.
The lawsuit seeks damages of $1,000-$5,000 per violation, with potentially millions of dollars at stake.
Society Insurance argues that the claims within that lawsuit fall outside the scope of their insurance policies with Cermak Produce and are excluded from coverage.
The insurance company is represented by attorney Amy Frantz and others from the firm of Freeman Mathis & Gary LLP, of Chicago.