David J. Oberly will participate in the panel presentation Biometrics Are Back! (And So Are the Lawsuits) at the American Bar Association’s 16th Annual Section of Labor and Employment Law Conference, the Section’s signature event of the year, from November 9-12, 2022, in Washington D.C. 

Program Description

Technology and employees’ increasingly broad access to data and personal information concerning their employees have continued to be at the forefront of the employer-employee relationship for two-plus years—since the wave of local and state shutdowns in March 2020 forced employers and employees to adapt to telework. 

As some employers continue to rely on biometric technology to collect employee information—like fingerprints, retina scans, and facial geometry—others may be reconsidering the use of such technology due to the recent uptick in data privacy and biometrics litigation and the recent plaintiff-friendly decisions that followed. The recent settlements of biometrics litigation in California and Illinois and the multi-million dollar lawsuit filed by the Texas Attorney General provide ample evidence that biometrics are still a pressing issue. 

In addition, several states are moving to enact biometric privacy laws similar to the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”), including Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New York, among others. 

This panel will discuss the recent spike in class action litigation under BIPA and how recent decisions may impact how employer data collection and employee privacy policies are shaped going forward. The panel will also discuss the similarities and differences among the various privacy laws being considered in addition to the states that have already enacted such laws and the extent to which emerging laws in this area should shape the development of workplace privacy policies. 

For more information and to register, please visit the ABA 16th Annual Labor and Employment Law Conference event webpage.