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An Illinois man has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of all Panera employees over what he says is the unlawful collection and storing of workers’ fingerprints, used when they clock in to their shifts.
Michael Hilliard says he was required to place his finger on a fingerprint scanner at the beginning and end of each shift he worked at an Au Bon Pain between 2014 and 2019, when he left the company. He was never asked for permission to collect his fingerprint, or to store it in a company database, which is in direct violation of the Illinois state Biometric Information Privacy Act, he claims.
Hilliard filed a class action lawsuit against Panera, LLC, the parent company of Au Bon Pain, in state court in Cook County on Dec. 3. He is seeking the court’s approval to represent a Class of employees of Panera whose fingerprints were also collected and stored without their express, written permission. It is unclear yet how many other workers might be eligible to participate in the case, but Hilliard’s lawyers estimate it could be hundreds, if not thousands.
Illinois state lawmakers enacted the Biometric Information Privacy Act in 2008, prohibiting private entities from collecting biometric data from people without getting their informed written consent first. If consent is given and the biometrics are collected, entities that do the collecting are required to have a written policy and schedule for the retention and destruction of that information, and they are barred from disclosing it without written consent, and from profiting from disclosure even if consent is obtained.
Biometric identifiers include fingerprints, facial patterns, and vocal cadence.
Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act also demands private entities protect all collected biometrics in a way that is at least as secure, if not more so, than they treat other personal and confidential information, such as Social Security numbers and security codes.
According to Hilliard’s class action lawsuit, Panera not only collected his fingerprint without his permission – and stored it so it could be used to verify the plaintiff each time he used the time clock – the company never provided him with a retention schedule for his personal biometric data.
“Further, to the extent [the] defendant uses an outside vendor to process its payroll, there is a significant risk [the] plaintiff’s biometric identifiers have already been disseminated without his knowledge or consent,” the class action lawsuit argues.
Hilliard and his legal team want the court to declare the company’s collecting and storing of Panera employees’ fingerprints unlawful. They are asking Panera be assessed fines in line with what the BIPA allows – $5,000 in damages for every willful or reckless violation of the Biometric Information Privacy Act or $1,000 for every negligent violation.
They are also seeking other monetary awards for damages to cover the harm suffered by the Panera employees. That harm consists of the risk they have been put in by way of their biometric markers being kept on file, the class action claims.
Do you work at a Panera Bread or Au Bon Pain restaurant? Are you required to put your finger on a fingerprint scanner to clock in and out of your shifts? Tell us about it in the comment section below.
Lead plaintiff Hilliard and the proposed Class Members are represented by Carl V. Malmstrom of Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLC and Joseph I. Marchese and Philip L. Fraietta of Bursor & Fisher, P.A.
The Panera Employees Class Action Lawsuit is Michael Hilliard, et al. v. Panera, LLC, Case No. 2020CH7056, in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois Chancery Division.
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4 thoughts onPanera Employees Harmed When Company Collected Their Fingerprints, Class Action Lawsuit Claims
I worked at AubonPain as a Shift Supervisor from 07/2016-05/2018. We had to use our fingerprints to clock in & out of work daily. I was also required to use fingerprints to pull cash draws, void out orders, & do other things.
I did work for AuBon Pain in Park Ridge Illinois , we were using finger print system plus finger print system to log in into our cash register machines
Add me
I do not work for either of these companies but my place of employment did require a fingerprint for clock on and out