in Newswire Published on July 10, 2020

Class Action: Illinois Nursing Homes Collected Worker Fingerprints Without Proper Authorization, Disclosures

by Erin Shaak

View Comments

Hicks v. Evergreen Living & Rehab Center, LLC

Filed: July 9, 2020 ◆§ 1:20-cv-04032

• Read Complaint

A former Evergreen Living & Rehab Center employee claims the company collects worker fingerprints for timekeeping purposes in violation of an Illinois privacy law.

Defendant(s)

Evergreen Living & Rehab Center, LLC The Villa at Evergreen Park Avantara Evergreen Park

Law(s)

Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act

State(s)

Illinois

Categories

Privacy

Evergreen Living & Rehab Center, LLC faces a proposed class action in which a former employee claims the nursing home operator collects worker fingerprints for timekeeping purposes in violation of an Illinois privacy law. 

The case alleges the defendant—who operates The Villa at Evergreen Park and Avantara Evergreen Park—“disregards its workers’ statutorily protected rights” under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by collecting, storing and using their biometric identifiers, i.e. fingerprints, without proper authorization and disclosures.

More specifically, the suit claims that although Evergreen requires employees to scan their fingerprints to clock in and out of work, the nursing home operator has fallen short of the BIPA’s requirements by failing to:

  • Inform employees in writing that their biometric information or identifiers were being collected;
  • Inform the workers of the purpose and length of time for which their fingerprints were being collected, stored and used;
  • Receive proper authorization from workers to “collect, capture, or otherwise obtain” their fingerprints; and
  • Publish a publicly available retention schedule and guidelines outlining the permanent destruction of employees’ biometric data.

    • The plaintiff, who worked at one of the defendant’s Evergreen Park locations between July 2014 and October 2018, says the company uses the same biometric scanning system to track workers’ hours at each of its locations, including facilities in Elgin, Long Grove, and Park Ridge, Illinois.

    The woman looks to represent any Illinois resident who, within the past five years, had their fingerprint or other biometric information collected, captured, received, otherwise obtained, used, or stored by the defendant using its biometric scanner system at any of the company’s Illinois locations.

    Get class action lawsuit news sent to your inbox – sign up for ClassAction.org’s newsletter here.

    Case Spotlight

    Hair Relaxer Lawsuits

    Women who developed ovarian or uterine cancer after using hair relaxers such as Dark & Lovely and Motions may now have an opportunity to take legal action.

    Read more here: Hair Relaxer Cancer Lawsuits

    How Do I Join a Class Action Lawsuit?

    Did you know there's usually nothing you need to do to join, sign up for, or add your name to new class action lawsuits when they're initially filed?

    Read more here: How Do I Join a Class Action Lawsuit?

    ClassAction.org Newsletter

    Stay Current

    Sign Up For
    Our Newsletter

    New cases and investigations, settlement deadlines, and news straight to your inbox.

    This browser does not support PDFs. Please download the PDF to view it: Download PDF.
    Open Document
    Last Updated on July 10, 2020 — 4:32 PM

    Erin Shaak

    erin@classaction.org

    Erin works primarily on ClassAction.org’s newswire, reporting on cases as they happen.

    About ClassAction.org

    ClassAction.org is a group of online professionals (designers, developers and writers) with years of experience in the legal industry.

    Learn More

    Before commenting, please review our comment policy.