Old Dominion’s Biometric Waiver Offers Creative Legal Tactic

Old Dominion Freight Line Inc.‘s $500 offer to employees if they agree not to sue over biometric privacy rights marks the latest creative strategy to ward off litigation following a landmark Illinois Supreme Court ruling.

The transport company faces a federal lawsuit over alleged violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). Managers distributed a one-page waiver for employees to voluntarily sign, which would release the company from the statute’s obligations—days before the lawsuit was filed.

Companies are increasingly exposed to BIPA liability risks in Illinois following the state Supreme Court’s Cothron v. White Castle decision, which expanded ...