CHICAGO — A man who formerly worked for Power Stop LLC has filed a class action lawsuit, accusing his employer of violating an Illinois privacy law in the way it required employees to scan their “biometrics” when punching in and out of work shifts.
Jose Luna, individually and on behalf of others in the same situation, filed suit July 22 in Cook County Circuit Court, accusing Power Stop of obtaining and using their private information without their consent. The lawsuit claims Power Stop, a company that makes and sells performance brake pads, used biometric identifiers, such as fingerprints, voiceprints and palm scans, to track employees’ work hours, yet did not first secure employees’ written authorization. The lawsuit says the company also didn’t provide employees with disclosures explaining how the information was being stored, why it was being scanned and how and when it would be destroyed, if it was being stored or distributed.
The lawsuit (Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 2019-C ) asserts these were violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.
Luna said his information was scanned when he worked at one of Power Stop’s Illinois facilities. The suit alleges the company used biometric scanning and time-tracking devices to keep track of its workers and their time. Luna had to scan his information into the Power Stop database as an employee for payroll purposes.
He asked the court to certify the class, declare Power Stop violated the BIPA law, and award statutory damages of $1,000-$5,000 per violation, plus attorney fees and injunctive relief.
He is represented by attorneys with the firm of McGuire Law P.C., of Chicago.
