Bellweather lawsuits a warning on misuse of employee data
There is increased focus on protecting employee data, and two new lawsuits, in Illinois and Pennsylvania, indicate U.S. courts are prepared to support employee claims. In Illinois, the plaintiff claimed his employer violated Illinois’ strict Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), when it forced him to “clock in” his hours using fingerprinting without proper notice or consent. The court agreed that this placed the claimant at increased risk for having his data stolen, so rejected a motion to dismiss the case. In the second instance, a group claimed that a Pennsylvania medical center was negligent in adequately protecting employee data that resulted in data being stolen.