Comp Act doesn’t bar employee’s Privacy Act claim

Trial Notebook

By Steven P. Garmisa

Hoey & Farina

Posted October 14, 2020 12:15 PM

Companies sued by employees for allegedly violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act hope to avoid its stiff set of minimum damages—$1,000 for each negligent violation of Section 15’s protections for biometric identifiers and information, and $5,000 for every reckless infraction — by invoking the exclusive remedy provisions of the Workers Compensation Act. But in the Illinois Appellate Court’s first opinion on this issue, the 1st District concluded that “the exclusivity provisions of the Compensation Act do …

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