Truckers Keep Union Pacific Data Privacy Lawsuit on Track
A federal appeals court has allowed a proposed class action involving Union Pacific Railroad to move forward after finding that fingerprint scans used at the company’s Illinois intermodal facilities may violate the state’s biometric privacy law.
Drivers Challenge Fingerprint Scanning
The lawsuit accuses Union Pacific of requiring truck drivers to provide fingerprint scans when entering certain Illinois facilities. The biometric information was allegedly used to identify drivers and track or process intermodal loads.
The proposed class could include potentially thousands of truck drivers who entered the facilities and submitted their fingerprints. The case was brought under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, commonly known as BIPA.
Court Rejects Government-Contractor Defense
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed that Union Pacific could not rely on an Illinois exemption for government contractors to defeat the claims at this stage of the litigation.
The court found that the railroad’s government contracts involved commuter rail and infrastructure work, rather than the intermodal freight facilities where the fingerprint scans allegedly occurred. As a result, the court rejected Union Pacific’s position that the exemption applied whenever a government contract remained active.
Potential Impact on Freight Operations
Union Pacific and other railroad operators have faced biometric privacy lawsuits in Illinois state and federal courts. BIPA litigation can carry significant financial exposure because the law provides statutory damages for certain violations, although the amount of any damages in this case has not been determined.
The ruling does not resolve the underlying claims or establish liability. It allows the proposed class action to continue while the parties litigate whether Union Pacific properly collected, stored and used drivers’ biometric information.
