On February 3, 2022, in McDonald v. Symphony Bronzeville Park, LLC, the Illinois Supreme Court held the exclusive remedy provisions of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act (“Compensation Act”) do not preempt employee statutory damages claims under the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act (“Privacy Act”). Justice David K. Overstreet authored the near-unanimous opinion. Justice Michael J. Burke filed a concurrence, although it reads more like a dissent.
The plaintiff in McDonald filed a putative class action against her former employer alleging that she and her coworkers were required to scan their fingerprints to track their time worked and prevent others from clocking-in for them (i.e., to prevent time card fraud). Specifically, the plaintiff alleged that the defendant violated section 15(b)’s informed consent requirements and section 15(a)’s publicly-available retention and destruction policy. Her original complaint stated these alleged violations caused her mental anguish.
Sections 5(a) and 11 of the Compensation Act (820 ILCS 305/5(a) and 11) preempt workplace injuries that cause emotional distress, provided the employer did not specifically “intend” to injure the employee. When the defendant in McDonald moved to dismiss the plaintiff’s complaint as preempted by the exclusive remedy provisions of the Compensation Act, the plaintiff filed an amended complaint that dropped the mental anguish allegation and cited only the Privacy Act’s...
The Presidency has dismissed Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde’s claim that the Federal Government is withholding 250 billion in Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) dividends for each state, describing the a...