Biometric data privacy settlement to set high bar for payouts even as lawyers claim a third

Preliminary approval has been granted for a $3.5 million settlement of a class action lawsuit accusing Ceridian of violating Illinois’ biometric data privacy law with its time and attendance tracking products, the Cook County Record reports.

Plaintiffs claim Ceridian failed to collect consent and to publish a data retention and destruction schedule for its fingerprint biometric scanners as required under the Biometric Information Privacy Act.

A motion requesting plaintiffs’ representatives be granted a reward of 35 percent of the settlement total also claims that class members will receive “the highest monetary relief per-person in a vendor BIPA case to date.”

With 10 days until the deadline, 22 percent of class members had submitted claims, and after fees and costs are deducted, each would receive about $700.

By contrast, a massive settlement of a BIPA suit against Google is set to pay out just over $150 per class member.

Ceridian has already published a data retention and deletion plan to its website, and agreed to maintain them as part of the settlement. The company has also agreed to establish a process for its customers to obtain written consent from biometric data subjects, which will be built into the Ceridian Dayforce timeclock.

The agreement was initially reached in July.

First BIPA jury trial ahead

Among the numerous BIPA trials heard in state and federal court in recent years, Rogers v. BNSF Railway Company is about to become the first to be heard by a jury, with Law360 reporting that jury selection began this week.

The plaintiff accuses BNSF of failing to collect informed consent when fingerprinting him for access control to pick up and drop off loads at rail yards. BNSF has argued that liability resides only with its automatic gate system vendor, Remprex.

The case was sent from state to federal court and back again.

Lawyers interviewed by Law360 suggest that the exposure to BNSF from a jury trial is substantial, and expressed uncertainty about how the jury will treat the company’s liability.

Biometric data privacy suits found fit

Tinder and parent company Match Group Inc. are facing a potential class action under BIPA for the use of face biometrics in identity verification, the Cook County Record separately reports. Tinder began trialing selfie biometrics and liveness checks from FaceTec earlier this year.

Turing Video has had a motion to dismiss a BIPA suit against it rejected by a federal judge, according to another article in the Record. The ruling states that the company has sufficient ties to Illinois to be liable, with dozens of customers for its contactless temperature screening scanners used to detect COVID-19, and labor laws do not pre-empt the allegation, as they could only protect the plaintiff’s employer.

Training software provider Brainshark Inc. will likewise face a complaint under BIPA, after a federal judge rejected arguments that the events at issue were not sufficiently shown to have occurred in Illinois, and that BIPA violates the First Amendment of the Constitution, Law360 writes.

BIPA lawsuits have also been filed against summer camp photo platform Bunk1.com, according to ClassAction.org.

Article Topics

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