Southwest Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Employee Privacy Violations

A new class action lawsuit alleges that Southwest Airlines violates its Illinois workers’ rights by requiring them to submit fingerprints for attendance tracking.

Lead plaintiffs, Jeff Battles, Lerome Thomas, and Steven Spencer, claim in the Southwest biometric privacy class action lawsuit that workers are required to submit fingerprints to clock-in/out and for payroll purposes.

The plaintiffs say the sensitive personal information is also sent out by Southwest to a third-party payroll company.

However, alleges the Southwest biometric privacy class action lawsuit, workers in Illinois are protected by the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).

Southwest, say the employees, is in violation of BIPA which was enacted to protect Illinois residents’ biometric data, including fingerprints and eye scans.

“If a database containing fingerprints or other sensitive, proprietary biometric data is hacked, breached, or otherwise exposed, employees have no means by which to prevent identity theft, unauthorized tracking, or other unlawful or improper use of this highly personal and private information,” alleges the Southwest biometric privacy class action lawsuit.

Compounding the issue further is Southwest’s failure to notify workers about if and when their biometric information will be sent to third parties, says the Southwest class action lawsuit.

Additionally, points out the Southwest Airlines class action lawsuit, workers are not informed about the retention and expected destruction of their biometric information.

The Southwest employees say that they were never asked permission or clearly informed about Southwest’s policies regarding their fingerprints.

According to the Southwest biometric privacy class action lawsuit, biometric information can be cheaply and easily bought off the black market. Unlike Social Security numbers and other private information, biometric information cannot be changed in the event of identity theft, allege the plaintiffs.

“Unlike ID badges or time cards – which can be changes or replaced if stolen or compromised – fingerprints are unique, permanent biometric identifiers associated with each employee,” alleges the Southwest biometric privacy class action lawsuit.

“If a database containing fingerprints or other sensitive, proprietary biometric data is hacked, breached, or otherwise exposed…employees have no means by which to prevent identity theft, unauthorized hacking or other unlawful or improper use of this highly personal and private information.”

The Southwest biometric privacy class action lawsuit seeks to represent a Class of current and former Southwest employees in Illinois whose biometric information was obtained and used by the airline.

The plaintiffs are seeking damages as prescribed in the BIPA statute of between $1,000 and $5,000 per alleged violation.

The Southwest biometric privacy class action lawsuit is not the first class action to stem from Illinois BIPA law. Other major companies, including Loews and Crate & Barrel are facing similar litigation over the collection of Illinois workers’ fingerprints for timekeeping purposes.

The lead plaintiffs are represented by Ryan F. Stephan, James B. Zouras and Andrew Ficzko of Stephan Zouras LLP.

The Southwest Biometric Privacy Class Action Lawsuit is Jeff Battles, et al. v. Southwest Airlines Co., et al., Case No. 2018CH09376, in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois.