After arguing that damages allowed under the Biometric Information Privacy Act were unconstitutional, World Wide Technology has settled claims by a class of plaintiffs alleging it collected biometric information from employees without their consent
On July 29, Madison County Circuit Judge David Dugan entered final approval of the class action settlement. He wrote that the settlement agreement was preliminarily approved on Jan. 10, and adequate notice has been given to all members of the class.
“Based on the papers filed with the court and the presentations made to the Court by the parties and other interested persons at the Final Approval Hearing, the Court now gives final approval to the Settlement and finds that the Settlement Agreement is fair, adequate, reasonable, and in the best interests of the Settlement Class,” Dugan wrote.
“The complex legal and factual posture of the Litigation, and the fact that the Settlement Agreement is the result of arms-length negotiations, including negotiations presided over by a neutral mediator, further support this finding,” he continued.
The order did not specify the amount class members will get, but Dugan approved $934,303.85 in attorneys’ fees, costs and expenses for class counsel Brandon Wise and Paul Lesko of Pfeiffer Wolf Carr & Kane in St. Louis.
Dugan also approved $7,500 for class representative Connie Young and $5,000 for class representative Christopher Coons.
The class is described as all individuals who enrolled in the Time-Keeping System using their biometric information while working at World Wide Technology’s Illinois facilities between March 11, 2014, and the date of preliminary approval of the settlement.
The complaint was originally filed in Madison County after the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that plaintiffs do not have to show actual harm to be successful in suits alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act (BIPA). It was later removed to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois in May 2019. The parties agreed to dismiss the suit in federal court on Dec. 2. A new case was filed in Madison County Circuit Court on Dec. 4.
Defendant World Wide Technology is a St. Louis-based company but has facilities in Edwardsville and Granite City.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs alleged class members were required to clock into work using biometric identifiers. However, they alleged employees did not give written consent for their fingerprints or hand prints to be used for identification or potentially shared with a third party.
While the case was in federal court, defense attorney Lauren Caisman of Chicago argued that the damages available under BIPA are grossly excessive.
The law provides $1,000 or actual damages for negligent violation and $5,000 or actual damages for intentional or reckless violation.
Madison County Circuit Court case number 19-L-1728