Wendy’s Franchise Owners Hit With Biometric Privacy Class Suit

Two Wendy’s Co. franchise-owning companies violated the Biometric Information Privacy Act by collecting employees’ fingerprint scans without their consent, according to a proposed class action filed in Illinois state court.

The companies—Wenzak Inc. and Wenzak Heartland Inc.—also failed to provide plaintiff Michael Bachmann and other employees a retention schedule and guidelines for destruction of their fingerprint data, according to a complaint Bachmann filed Monday in the Illinois Circuit Court.

Bachmann worked as a Wenzak employee in Illinois until 2019, according to the complaint. He was required to scan his finger as a means of authenticating and tracking his time as ...