Driver’s biometrics case against ULH expands to class action

A suit filed successful 2021 by an Illinois motortruck operator for a portion of Universal Logistics implicit the strict Illinois biometric instrumentality has been granted people status.

The biometric instrumentality successful the Land of Lincoln has agelong been considered the astir stringent successful the state and has been called "a menace to business." 

It has been the absorption of different trucking-related litigation, including a lawsuit against in-cab video institution Lytx that resulted successful payouts to thousands of drivers of betwixt astir $650 and $850 per person. 

Brandon Willis was a operator for Universal Intermodal Services, which is simply a subsidiary of publicly-traded Universal Logistics (NASDAQ: ULH). He filed his suit successful 2021 successful U.S. Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois connected behalf of himself and different drivers implicit the company's usage of a fingerprint scanner astatine the company's Harvey, Illinois facility.

Universal Intermodal is the pb defendant. But the database of defendants was widened from the archetypal suit successful an amended August 2023 ailment to see HR-1 LLC (an limb of the backstage concern of Matthew Moroun, who owns astir 70% of Universal), Universal Management Services, Inc. and Data System Services, an extracurricular institution that provided biometric services to Universal.

At the halfway of the quality and suit was whether Universal was violating the provisions of Illinois' Biometric Privacy Act (BIPA), which was passed successful 2008 and amended successful 2024.

Time successful question goes backmost much than 10 years

The much contiguous question ruled connected by Judge Elaine E. Bucklo was whether the Willis suit could go a people action, taking successful not conscionable Universal employees but different workers doing concern with Universal who "clocked in" to the company's strategy betwixt March 30, 2016 done the present.

Judge Bucklo's determination connected the people presumption lone tangentially touched connected the issues raised successful Willis' lawsuit. 

However, she does recap immoderate of the basics of the suit and the alleged usurpation of BIPA.

BIPA, according to Judge Bucklo, requires that immoderate entity is gathering biometric accusation indispensable pass that idiosyncratic whose accusation is collected successful writing, and person a written merchandise regarding postulation and retention of the biometric data.

The Willis suit alleges that the defendants successful the lawsuit "took actions that straight violated the BIPA," according to Judge Bucklo. Some of the different defendants are vicariously liable "for the BIPA violations of others, and immoderate whitethorn beryllium both."

In the amended lawsuit, Willis said the defendants "directed, authorized, and coordinated the seizure and postulation of the fingerprints of workers and different persons astatine the Illinois Facilities by requiring the workers and different persons to usage Biometric Scanners to timepiece successful and timepiece retired each day." They did so, the suit says, "without the required consent of the persons being scanned."