Marriott Class Action Says Employee Fingerprint Data Violates Illinois Law

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Employees of a Chicago Marriott Hotel allege that the chain illegally shared their fingerprint data in a new class action lawsuit.

Lead plaintiffs, the former Marriott employees, claim that the hotel chain violated Illinois privacy laws when it required them to scan their fingerprints for clocking in and out and then sharing that information without permission to a third party.

The plaintiffs say that the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) affords residents with special protections when it comes to fingerprints and other forms of private information.

“Unlike ID badges or time cards — which can be changed or replaced if stolen or compromised — fingerprints are unique, permanent biometric identifiers associated with each employee,” the Marriott class action lawsuit states. “This exposes defendants’ employees to serious and irreversible privacy risks.”

The former employees allege that they were required to provide scans of their fingerprints as a condition of employment at the Chicago Marriott Hotel; however, they were never informed that the hotel would share that information and they never provided permission.

Further, the Marriott class action lawsuit claims that Marriott failed to provide the plaintiffs, as well as others who have left employment with Marriott, any information about their biometric identifiers since leaving the hotel.

“Representative plaintiffs have continuously and repeatedly been exposed to the risks and harmful conditions created by defendants’ violations of BIPA,” alleges the Marriott class action lawsuit. “Unlike a Social Security number that can be changed, no amount of time or money can compensate the plaintiffs if their fingerprints are compromised by the lax procedures through which defendants captured, stored, used and disseminated their workers’ biometrics, and representative plaintiffs would not have provided their fingerprints to defendants if they had known that they would retain such information for an indefinite period of time without their consent.”

According to the Marriott class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs are concerned about what will happen to their fingerprint scans in the event Marriott goes out of business. They say they have no way of knowing if the hotel chain would delete their information securely.

The plaintiffs seek to represent a Class of Marriott employees in Illinois who were required to provide fingerprints without appropriate disclosure or permission under BIPA. The plaintiffs are seeking damages as well as an order stopping Marriott from collecting fingerprints from Illinois workers.

A number of major employers, as well as smaller companies, have been hit with BIPA class action lawsuits in recent years. While employers are attempting to keep better track of their workers by using fingerprints to track work times, employees are becoming more aware of their rights under the state privacy law. BIPA carries steep fines of up to $5,000 per violation.

The employees are represented by Ryan Stephan, James Zouras and Andrew Ficzko of Stephan Zouras LLP.

The Marriott Employee BIPA Class Action Lawsuit is Jane George, et al. v. Schulte Hospitality Group Inc., et al., Case No. 18 CH 4413, in the Circuit Court of Cook County.