Chicago Ritz-Carlton Hit with Class Action Over Employee Fingerprint Scanning Practices

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A proposed class action claims the Ritz-Carlton of Chicago collected and disclosed employees’ fingerprint data for timekeeping purposes without proper notice and consent.

The lawsuit out of Cook County, Illinois Circuit Court claims defendants The Ritz-Carlton of Chicago, Inc. and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC ran afoul of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by failing to tell workers how their fingerprint data would be used and for how long it would be kept. Moreover, employees did not consent to Ritz-Carlton’s collection of their biometric data nor its disclosure to the company’s payroll provider, the suit alleges.

The plaintiff, an Illinois resident, says that while working at the defendants’ luxury hotel in Chicago, he and other hourly employees were required to clock in and out for shifts and breaks with a fingerprint scanner. The case claims that through its use of the biometric timekeeping system, Ritz-Carlton collected and stored biometric data—i.e., fingerprints—without adhering to notice and disclosure mandates set forth by the BIPA, including requirements that employers:

• Inform workers in writing of the purpose and length of time for which their biometric data will be collected and stored;
• Obtain a written release from the employees to collect, store and use their fingerprints;
• Publish a publicly available retention schedule and guidelines for how and when the data will be permanently destroyed; and
• Obtain employees’ consent before disclosing their biometrics.

Per the suit, the plaintiff and other workers were never properly informed of Ritz-Carlton’s data collection and retention practices, nor did they provide consent to have their private biometric information collected and kept by the hotel chain or disclosed to its payroll provider.

The lawsuit looks to cover anyone identified in the defendants’ biometric system within the last five years.

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