BENTON - Four days after Antonya Wren of Cahokia Heights sued a group of McDonald’s restaurants on a claim that their fingerprint clocks invaded biometric privacy of workers, she voluntarily dismissed the complaint.
Her counsel Jason Brown and Jayson Watkins of Gower, Missouri, filed notice of her decision at U.S. district court on Nov. 13, stating she dismissed her claims without prejudice.
Her class action complaint filed Nov. 9 alleged that franchise holder Estel Foods of Granite City collected, used and stored fingerprints in violation of state law.
James Estel Williams Jr. owns Estel Foods.
Brown and Watkins claimed Wren wouldn’t have provided Estel Foods with the ability to collect or capture her biometric information if she had known Estel Foods didn’t comply with the law.
The law provides damages of $1,000 for negligent violations and $5,000 for reckless and intentional violations, with every scan counting as a violation.
The court clerk randomly assigned Magistrate Judge Mark Beatty on Nov. 13 but the case closed before sunset.
Brown and Watkins continue to pursue a fingerprint action they filed against Kraft Heinz at district court on Nov. 6.
They proposed to certify Jason Darnell of Wilsonville as representative of an Illinois class.
The court clerk randomly assigned Magistrate Judge Reona Daly, who will preside unless a party declines consent to magistrate jurisdiction.
If that happens the clerk will assign a district judge.