Illinois biometic privacy law violation claims brought by unionized employees are preempted by federal labor law, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
The justices ruled the management rights clause in a collective bargaining agreement is broad enough to capture bargaining over privacy rights and thus bar plaintiff William Walton from individually negotiating with his employer over certain privacy matters. Since the US Supreme Court hasn’t ruled on the question, the Illinois justices relied on two US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit’s decisions interpreting the federal Labor Management Relations Act.
"[B]ecause we do not believe the federal decisions ...