Truck Drivers Win Lawsuit Towards BNSF for Illegal Fingerprint Scans – Fleet Administration

Greater than 44,000 truck drivers in Illinois will spilt $228 million in damages after a Chicago federal jury dominated that BNSF Railway unlawfully scanned drivers’ fingerprints with out correct permission whereas they have been selecting up and dropping off masses at rail yards.

Gathering or storing biometric info, together with fingerprint scans, requires written, knowledgeable permission or discover below the Illinois Biometric Data Privateness Act. That is the primary case of its form to go trial, based on Law360.

Earlier this 12 months, one other Illinois truck driver filed a category motion lawsuit towards Maverick Transportation and Lytx for the same violation (see Dig Deeper sidebar). This case towards BNSF, led by lead plaintiff Richard Rogers, is the outcomes of three years of litigation.

Jurors concluded BNSF “recklessly or deliberately” violated the state’s biometric legislation 45,600 occasions, equal to the estimated variety of drivers who had their fingerprints registered. BIPA gives for as a lot as $5,000 in liquidated damages for each willful or reckless violation and $1,000 for each negligent violation, based on the Law360 report.

BNSF’s Common Director of Public Affairs Lena Kent informed Law360 that the railroad, one of many largest within the nation, plans to attraction. BNSF argues that the unbiased contractor it employed to course of drivers on the gates of the its rail yard, Remprex, is accountable.