Pret a Manger ordered to pay $677K to settle biometric lawsuit

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A district judge in Illinois this week signed a class action agreement requiring Pret a Manger to pay more than $677,000 to settle a biometrics dispute involving hundreds of workers at the fast-casual chain.

Kayla Quarles, the plaintiff, worked at a Chicago-area Pret from April 2018 to January 2019. The chain required all new employees to use a fingerprint as part of the timekeeping system. According to a LinkedIn account under that name, Quarles worked as a barista at Pret.

Quarles filed a lawsuit in November 2020, alleging that Pret violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) in two ways, according to documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. First, the chain failed to implement and comply with policies on retention and disposal of biometric data. Second, Pret has not provided necessary disclosures (or obtained written consent) to its employees to collect, store, and use biometric data.

According to court documents, Pret repeatedly asked to have the case dismissed before agreeing to arbitration in August.

As part of the agreement, Pret will set up a settlement fund of $677,450. Each of the 797 former Pret employees affected by the class action lawsuit will receive $518 after various fees are deducted.

The settlement class includes all employees of Pret a Manger in Illinois from November 4, 2015 until the settlement was approved, who “logged into, connected to, or used any software, system or device that used the finger, hand, or the like of the.” person used biometric identifier of any kind,” the lawsuit states.

By July 2020, Pret had closed all of its Chicago-area stores due to a massive drop in sales amid the pandemic. The UK-based chain, whose name means ‘ready-to-eat’, had locations in inner city cores, a popular haunt for big city office workers who are mostly working from home due to COVID. The chain also closed all of its Boston locations, for a total of 17 shutters, after sales fell 87% early in the pandemic.

The increasing acceptance of biometric technology for both employees and customers has become a hotly debated topic for the industry. In June, a customer at an Illinois McDonald’s filed a lawsuit against the burger giant, saying the chain violated state law by not obtaining approval before using voice-recognition technology to take his order.

Biometric laws vary by state, with Illinois having some of the strictest privacy laws in the country. Since 2008, the state has banned companies from collecting biometric data from people without their consent.

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