Illinois Appellate Court Holds Employee Biometric Privacy Claims Are Independent Of Wage and Hour Disputes

On April 9, 2019, an appellate court in Illinois held in Liu v. Four Seasons Hotel, Ltd. that an employee’s allegations of violations of the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act do not constitute allegations of “a wage or hour violation,” even where collection of biometric data is being used to monitor hours worked.

Coming on the heels of the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision in Rosenbach v. Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, which held that plaintiffs are not required to allege harm beyond a “technical” violation of the Act in order to bring an action under BIPA, Liu demonstrates a developing pattern of recognition of broad privacy rights in Illinois courts.

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