Ruling over liability of biometric time clock vendor in Illinois approaches

Hotel chain Hyatt says that its biometric workforce management technology provider Kronos should pay a portion of the $1.1 million deal it struck with hotel workers over alleged violations of Illinois’ biometric data privacy law, the Cook County Record reports.

The deal was reached with the prospective class of 1,200 Hyatt workers in early-2022, but Hyatt had already filed third-party action against Kronos, arguing that as the provider of the biometric technology the hotel chain allegedly violated the Biometric Information Privacy Act with, Kronos bears at least partial liability.

It was Kronos, after all, that collected, stored and transmitted the fingerprint biometrics in question, Hyatt claims in the suit, which remains unresolved. Hyatt further alleges that Kronos violated its contract when it refused to help defend Hyatt in the BIPA suit against it.

Kronos filed for dismissal, saying it did not “undertake compliance on Hyatt’s behalf.”

In a mid-May filing, Hyatt argues that Kronos has misinterpreted its contract, in which it agreed to process personally identifiable information in compliance with applicable laws.

A response is expected from Kronos later this month, followed by a ruling.

Kronos has separately agreed to settle the claims of customers which were settled with their employees in 2019 for $15 million.

Article Topics

biometric data  |  Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA)  |  biometrics  |  data collection  |  data privacy  |  data protection  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  Kronos  |  lawsuits  |  time and attendance