BELLEVILLE – A San Francisco-based meal delivery company is the latest firm to face a potential class action lawsuit over claims of violations of Illinois' biometric privacy act.
A St. Louis law firm, which has filed class action lawsuits on behalf of plaintiffs against various companies, is representing a former employee of Sun Basket.
Yvonne Wilhite, who worked for the company in Illinois, claims it violated provisions of the Biometric Information Privacy Act by allegedly failing to get her written release prior to obtaining and retaining her biometric data. The company reportedly used its employees' fingerprints for timekeeping.
Wilhite filed suit Jan. 14 in St. Clair County Circuit Court, where several class action suits have been filed alongside others in Madison County. Sun Basket did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Record.
Following an Illinois Supreme Court ruling, plaintiffs do not have to prove actual damage if their biometric data is taken, stored and used.
The suit claims that Wilhite had to clock-in and clock-out using "a time clock that operated, at least in part, by scanning plaintiff's fingerprint."
But the plaintiff was not, according to the suit, told of the specific limited purposes or length of time for which defendant collected, stored, or used her biometrics.
She further alleges she was not told of any data retention policy or whether the information would be deleted. She claims she has never been provided with nor ever signed a written release allowing defendant to collect, capture, store, or otherwise obtain her fingerprint.
The suit estimates there may be more than 40 members of the proposed class. The statute allows for $5,000 in damages for each intentional or reckless violation, and $1,000 for each negligent one.
But the action is also being taken to stop the defendant's alleged unlawful collection, use, storage, and disclosure of plaintiff's and the proposed class's sensitive, private, and personal biometric data.
Wilhite is represented by Brandon M. Wise and Paul A. Lesko of Peiffer Wolf Carr & Kane in St. Louis.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 2020-L-0045.