Vending

Judge trims consumer privacy complaint against Compass Group

Image courtesy of iStock.

December 1, 2020

An Illinois federal judge is allowing part of a consumer privacy lawsuit against Compass Group USA Inc to proceed, rejecting the company's argument that a state biometric privacy law should be considered "special legislation" in violation of the state's constitution, according to a Reuters Legal report.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall granted the company's motion to dismiss one claim in the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act case.

To make a claim under one of the law's provisions, a plaintiff must allege a defendant has not complied with its data retention and destruction guidelines. In this case, the judge ruled the plaintiff did not allege that Compass had guidelines in place.

Compass Group and lawyers for both parties did not respond to requests for comment at the time of this report.

Plaintiff Christine Bryant worked at a call center that contracted with Compass to provide vending machines that required a fingerprint to purchase food, according to court filings.

In the proposed class action, filed initially in Illinois state court and later moved to federal court, Bryant said Compass violated the law by not notifying her it would collect and store her fingerprint without getting her consent.

The case went to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which in May ruled that an alleged violation of Section 15(b) of the law established standing in federal court, while the allegation of a violation of Section 15(a), requiring an entity to have a written data retention and destruction policy, did not establish standing.

The judge at the present stage considered whether Bryant stated the elements of her Section 15(a) claim. Her allegation under that provision did not state a claim since she did not allege Compass established data retention and destruction policies, causing the judge to dismissing the claim without prejudice.

"Merely holding on to biometric information does not give rise to a § 15(a) claim unless holding on to it violates the established retention and destruction guidelines," Kendall wrote, according to the Reuters report.

The judge didn't agree with Compass's request to dismiss the whole complaint.