Timekeeping Company Beats Illinois Privacy Violation Claims

Lathem Time Co. doesn’t have to face allegations that it collected biometric data without permission in Illinois because the company had few links to the state, an Illinois federal court ruled.

Lathem had only “random and attenuated” connections in the state, Judge Richard Mills of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois wrote March 27 in tossing the claims. Plaintiff Bret Bray alleged that his employer, Hixson Lumber Sales, made workers use Lathem’s biometric timekeeping service.

Companies often remove cases brought against them under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act to federal court in an effort to ...