A trio of Illinois counties are known for being plaintiff friendly, especially for asbestos and no-injury biometric screening cases. COVID-19 liability is expected to fill future court dockets.
American Airlines and United Airlines have become the latest Illinois employers to be sued for allegedly violating Illinois’ biometric privacy law through the use of fingerprint-operated time clocks.
The flood of biometric privacy litigation engulfing tech companies and employers should make the General Assembly think twice before passing new regulations that could increase costs and compliance burdens for companies.
In 2017, increasing numbers of employees have sued their employers for alleged violations of Illinois’ biometric privacy law through the use of fingerprint-operated time clocks.
The governor has vetoed a bill that opponents warned would encourage lawsuits, burden businesses and suppress innovation, without meaningfully strengthening privacy protections for mobile device users.
Whether a new bill would actually strengthen privacy protections, or merely encourage lawsuits, burden businesses and suppress innovation are open questions.
As the federal government repeals regulations requiring broadband companies to obtain consumers’ consent before using their browsing history and other personal information to create targeted ads, Illinois state politicians are moving to ramp up privacy protections. However, whether these bills would actually further those privacy goals or whether they would merely bolster Illinois’ class-action lawsuit industry while burdening businesses are open questions.