Six Flags Pays $36M to End Illegal Fingerprint Scan Class Action Lawsuit

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Six Flags has agreed to pay $36 million to end a class action lawsuit claiming the company violated Illinois state law when it forced visitors to its Gurney location to provide a fingerprint scan to enter the park.  

Class Members may be able to claim as much as $200 if the proposed class action settlement is approved. Class Members in the Six Flags fingerprint scan class action settlement include those who visited Six Flags Great America in Gurnee between Oct. 1, 2013, and Dec. 31, 2018 and scanned their finger or fingers on a scanner at the park entry gates. 

Claims must be submitted by Oct. 12, 2021.  

If approved, the proposed settlement would end a class action lawsuit claiming Six Flags violated the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act (BIPA) by collecting fingerprint scans at the park entrance.  

Lead plaintiff, Stacy Rosenbach, alleged that the company had forced her and her minor child to submit fingerprint scans when they purchased a season pass to Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. Rosenbach claimed that Six Flags did not provide her or her son with any written release regarding the scanning and storage of his thumbprint. She also says she did not consent to Six Flags’ capture and use of that thumbprint. 

The class action lawsuit accused Six Flags of violating BIPA, a law that protects Illinois’ residents’ biometric information, including fingerprints, faceprints, and other identifying information. The law requires that companies collecting such information get consent to collect the biometric identifiers and also disclose their plan to protect, store, and destroy it.  

Rosenbach wanted to represent others who had been forced to provide a fingerprint to visit the Six Flags Great America park in Gurnee.  

The litigation wound its way through the Illinois court system. Six Flags scored an early win in 2017 when a court ruled that Rosenbach failed to show how she was harmed by the illegal collection of her fingerprint scan. However, the Illinois Supreme Court reversed that ruling in 2019 when it determined that Rosenbach only needed to establish that Six Flags illegally collected her biometric information under BIPA.  

Court documents say that Six Flags agreed to the multimillion class action settlement mediation discussions with the plaintiff. In addition to the $60 to $200 payout available to Class Members, if the settlement is approved, the proposed agreement notes that Six Flags has provided additional website disclosures about fingerprint scans it takes at entrance gates.  

A final hearing is scheduled for Oct. 29, 2021.  

Will you take part in the Six Flags fingerprint scan class action settlement? Tell us in the comment section below! 

Rosenbach is represented by Phillip Bock and David Oppenheim of Bock Hatch Lewis & Oppenheim LLC and Ilan Chorowsky and Mark Bulgarelli of Progressive Law Group LLC. 

The Six Flags Fingerprint Scan Class Action Lawsuit is Stacy Rosenbach v. Six Flags Entertainment Corp., et al., Case No. 16-CH-13 in the Circuit Court for the 19th Judicial Circuit, Lake County, Illinois. 

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

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• Six Flags Membership Fees Charged Despite COVID-19 Closures, Says Lawsuit
• Do You Qualify: Credit and Debit Card Receipt Privacy Lawsuit Claim Review