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An employee of Chicago’s Navy Pier is suing the waterfront attraction over claims it has violated the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by requiring workers to clock in and out using biometric scanners.
Martina Enriquez filed a class action lawsuit against Navy Pier Inc. in Illinois Circuit Court in Cook County on Dec. 17, claiming her employer has been collecting her biometric information through its time-clock system in violation of state law. Navy Pier Inc. never asked for nor obtained her written consent to collect her biometrics, she says.
“Further … defendant disseminated information derived from the scanning of [Enriquez’s] biometric identifiers to third parties, including vendors for timekeeping, data storage, and payroll purposes,” the class action lawsuit reads.
Biometric data includes handprints and fingerprints, facial patterns and vocal cadence. Fingerprint or handprint scanners are commonly used in time-clock systems to track employees who do shift work.
Enriquez’s class action lawsuit does not specify which type of biometric information Navy Pier collects.
The Illinois legislature passed the Biometric Information Privacy Act in 2008 to prevent “private entities” from collecting biometric data without the informed written consent of its owners. If consent is given, the law requires entities that collect the data to have a written policy and schedule for the retention and destruction of that information, and to make that available to the individuals whose biometrics are captured.
What’s more, entities that collect biometrics are forbidden from disclosing that information without the prior written consent of its owners and from profiting from such disclosure even if consent is given.
According to the Enriquez class action lawsuit, Navy Pier Inc. did not make available a written policy regarding its retention of its workers’ biometric data or provide a schedule for its planned destruction before collecting it.
“To this day, the plaintiff is unaware of the status of the biometrics obtained by [the] defendant,” the class action lawsuit says. Navy Pier has not “informed [Enriquez] whether it still retains [her] biometrics and, if it does, for how long it intends to retain such information without plaintiff’s consent.”
Enriquez is seeking the Court’s approval to represent a Class of fellow Navy Pier employees who have had their biometric data collected without their prior written consent. The class action lawsuit does not say how many potential Class Members there might be, but the recreational attraction reportedly employs more than 500 workers.
Violations of the Biometric Information Privacy Act can result in fines of $1,000 to $5,000 per instance — instances being each time a scan is performed without the legally required consent and policies in place.
Do you have to clock in and out at work on a system that scans your fingerprint or handprint? Were you asked to consent to the scanning and collecting of your biometric data before you provided it? Tell us about it in the comment section below.
Lead plaintiff Enriquez and the proposed Class Members are represented by James X. Bormes and Catherine P. Sons of Law Office of James X. Bormes PC and Frank Castiglione and Kasif Khowaja of The Khowaja Law Firm LLC.
The Navy Pier Class Action Lawsuit is Martina Enriquez, et al. v. Navy Pier Inc., Case No. 2020CH07340, in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, County Department, Chancery Division.
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