The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act Does Not Bar An Employee’s Claim Under BIPA

In McDonald v. Symphony Bronzeville Park, LLC, 2022 IL 126511, the Illinois Supreme Court issued an opinion finding the exclusive remedy provisions of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act (‘Compensation Act’) 820 ILCS 305/1 et seq. does not bar an employee’s claim for statutory damages under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (‘BIPA’), 40 ILCS 14/1 et seq.

An employee filed a class-action lawsuit against her employer for violating BIPA.

Her employer required its employees to use a biometric timekeeping system in order to scan an employee’s fingerprint for purposes of authenticating an employee and tracking their time at work.

The employee alleged that her employer never obtained her written consent to store her biometric information or informed her how the information will be stored.