BELLEVILLE — Stellar Manufacturing is being sued by employees alleging it illegally collected, stored and shared their biometric data.
Allan Masters, on behalf of himself and other persons similarly situated, filed a complaint Dec. 21 in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against Stellar Manufacturing Company, alleging violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.
Masters was employed by Stellar Manufacturing from early 2018 through late 2019 at its East St. Louis facility, according to the complaint. He alleges that he and other employees were required to scan their fingerprints to clock in and out from work.
He claims Stellar has violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act with its employee fingerprint scans, because employees were not informed about how their biometric information was being collected and stored. Masters also claims Stellar failed to inform its employees about the purpose and length of time their biometric data would be stored and failed to obtain employees' consent before collecting their biometric data.
Masters alleges the defendants also failed to identify any third parties involved with their biometric information.
The suit states that every collection, storage and sharing of the employees' information is a violation of state law.
Masters seeks monetary relief, interest and all other just relief. He is represented by Roberto Costales and William Beaumont of Beaumont Costales LLC in Chicago.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 20-L-1010