Roberts v. Paychex Inc. Frequently Asked Questions

The Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”), 740 ILCS  14/1, et seq., prohibits private companies from capturing, obtaining, storing, transferring, and/or using the biometric identifiers and/or information, such as fingerprints, of another individual for any purpose without first providing them with certain written disclosures and obtaining written consent. This lawsuit alleges that Defendant violated BIPA by collecting individuals’ biometric identifiers through finger, iris, or facial-scan technology in Illinois without first providing the requisite disclosures or obtaining the consent required by BIPA. The Complaint in the lawsuit is available here, and contains all of the allegations and claims that will be resolved through this Settlement. Defendant contests these claims, denies that it collected or possessed fingerprints or any other information subject to BIPA, and denies that it violated BIPA.

You are a member of the Settlement Class if you scanned your finger, iris, face or other biometric identifier into a Paychex Timeclock in the state of Illinois at any time between January 7, 2014, and May 28, 2021. If you scanned your biometric identifier into a Paychex Timeclock in Illinois at any time during this time period, click here to submit a claim for cash benefits. 

To see if you used a Paychex Timeclock, the timeclocks provided by Paychex, Inc. Entities during the relevant time period include those identified below. Unless otherwise indicated, the Paychex, Inc. Timeclocks are finger-scan timeclocks located here.

(1) Accept the Settlement. To accept the Settlement, you must submit a Claim Form by August 27, 2021. You may submit your Claim Form online by clicking here or you may obtain a copy of the Claim Form here and send your Claim Form via email to [email protected] or by mail to the Settlement Administrator via at Roberts v. Paychex, Inc., Kroll Settlement Administration, LLC, P.O. Box 225391 New York, NY 10150-5391. If the Settlement is approved and your claim is deemed valid, a check will be mailed to you. Submitting a valid and timely Claim Form is the only way to receive a payment from this Settlement and is the only thing you need to do to receive a payment.

(2) Exclude yourself. You may exclude yourself from the Settlement. If you do so, you will not receive any cash payment, but you will not release any claims you may have against Defendant and the Released Parties (as that term is defined in the Settlement Agreement) and are free to pursue whatever legal rights you may have your own risk and expense.

To exclude yourself from the Settlement, you must mail a signed letter to the Settlement Administrator at Kroll Settlement Administration, LLC, P.O. Box 225391 New York, NY 10150-5391. You may also exclude yourself online on this website by August 6, 2021. The exclusion letter must state that you exclude yourself from this Settlement and must include the name and case number of this litigation, as well as your full name, address, telephone number, a statement that you wish to be excluded, and your signature. So-called “mass” or “class” exclusion requests are not permitted.

(3) Object to the Settlement.  If you wish to object to the Settlement, you must submit your objection in writing to the Clerk of the Court of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Richard J. Daley Center, 50 West Washington Street, Courtroom 802, Chicago, Illinois 60602. The objection must be received by the Court no later than August 6, 2021. You must also send a copy of your objection to the attorneys for all Parties to the lawsuit, including Class Counsel (Evan M. Meyers and Timothy P. Kingsbury of MCGUIRE LAW, P.C., 55 West Wacker Drive, 9th Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60601), as well as the attorneys representing the Defendant (Melissa A. Siebert and Matthew C. Wolfe of SHOOK, HARDY & BACON LLP, 11 South Wacker Dr., Suite 4700, Chicago, Illinois 60606), postmarked no later than August 6, 2021. Any objection to the proposed Settlement must include (i) the objector’s full name, address, email address, and current telephone number; (ii) the case name and number of the Litigation; (iii) all grounds for the objection, with factual and legal support for the stated objection, including any supporting materials; (iv) the identification of any other objections he/she/they has filed, or has had filed on his/her/their behalf, in any other class action cases in the last four years; and (v) the objector’s signature. If you hire an attorney in connection with making an objection, that attorney must also file with the court a notice of appearance by the objection deadline of August 6, 2021. If you do hire your own attorney, you will be solely responsible for payment of any fees and expenses the attorney incurs on your behalf. If you exclude yourself from the Settlement, you cannot file an objection.

You may appear at the Final Approval Hearing, which will be held on September 9, 2021 at 10:30 a.m., via Zoom videoconference (Meeting ID: 974 5431 3798; Password: 501494) or as the Court otherwise directs, in person or through counsel to show cause why the proposed Settlement should not be approved as fair, reasonable, and adequate. Attendance at the hearing is not necessary; however, persons wishing to be heard orally in opposition to the Final Approval of the Settlement, the request for attorneys’ fees and expenses, and/or the request for an Incentive Award to the Class Representative are required to indicate in their written objection their intention to appear at the hearing on their own behalf or through counsel and to identify the names of any witnesses they intend to call to testify at the Final Approval Hearing, as well as any exhibits they intend to introduce at the Final Approval Hearing.

(4)  Do Nothing. If you do nothing, you will receive no money from the Settlement Fund, but you will still be bound by all orders and judgments of the court. Unless you exclude yourself from the Settlement, you will not be able to file or continue a lawsuit against the Releases regarding any of the Released Claims.

Submitting a valid and timely Claim Form is the only way to receive a payment from this Settlement. To submit a Claim Form, or for information on how to request exclusion from the Class or file an objection, please visit the Settlement website, www.PaychexBIPASettlement.com, or call 1-833-460-1723.

Cash Payments.   Defendant has agreed to create a $3,375,519 Settlement Fund for the Class Members. All Settlement Class Members are entitled to submit a Claim Form to receive a payment out of the Settlement Fund. If the Settlement is approved, each Settlement Class Member who submits a timely Claim Form that is deemed valid will be entitled to an equal payment paid out of the Settlement Fund after payment is made for administrative expenses, attorneys’ fees and expenses, and a Class Representative incentive award. The exact amount of each Class Member’s payment is unknown at this time and depends on several factors, including how many valid claims are submitted, and the amount of costs, attorneys’ fees and expenses. The Settlement Administrator will issue a check to each Class Member who submits a valid Claim Form following the final approval of the Settlement. All checks issued to Settlement Class Members will expire and become void 100 days after they are issued. Additionally, the attorneys who brought this lawsuit (listed below) will ask the Court to award them attorneys’ fees of up to thirty-five percent of the Settlement Fund, plus reasonable costs, for the substantial time, expense and effort spent investigating the facts, litigating the case and negotiating the Settlement. The Class Representative also will apply to the Court for a payment of up to $10,000 for her time, effort, and service in this matter. Class Counsel will file with the Court and post on the Settlement Website their request for attorneys’ fees and costs and an incentive award on July 16, 2021.

Prospective Relief. Pursuant to this Settlement, and without admitting any liability, Paychex, Inc. represents that it and the other Paychex, Inc. Entities have taken steps to comply with BIPA, and believes the Paychex, Inc. Entities are now compliant with BIPA, including BIPA’s consent and retention policy requirements. Those steps include: (a) verifying that relevant Paychex Entity privacy policies are compliant with BIPA; (b) taking steps to encourage BIPA-compliant use of Paychex, Inc. Timeclocks Paychex, Inc. Entities sell and lease, including by enabling and encouraging the use of BIPA-compliant notice and consent language by customers using Paychex Timeclocks that may be subject to BIPA; and (c) verifying that information potentially subject to BIPA has been deleted in compliance with BIPA’s requirements.

Unless you exclude yourself from this Settlement, you will be considered a member of the Settlement Class, which means you give up your right to file or continue a lawsuit against Defendant and the other Released Parties (as defined in the Settlement Agreement) relating to their alleged collection of biometrics or other breach of BIPA from January 7, 2014, to May 28, 2021. Giving up your legal claims is called a release. The precise terms of the release are contained in the Settlement Agreement, which is available here . If you have any questions, you can talk for free to the attorneys identified below who have been appointed by the Court to represent the Settlement Class, or you are welcome to talk to any other lawyer of your choosing at your own expense. 

The Parties cannot predict exactly when (or whether) the Court will give final approval to the Settlement, so please be patient. However, if the Court finally approves the Settlement, you will be paid as soon as possible after the court order becomes final, which should occur within approximately 60 days after the Settlement has been finally approved. If there is an appeal of the Settlement, payment may be delayed. Updated information about the case is available on this website, or you can call the Settlement Administrator at 1-833-460-1723 or contact Class Counsel.

The Court has already given preliminary approval to the Settlement. A final hearing on the Settlement, called a Final Approval Hearing, will be held to determine the fairness of the Settlement. At the Final Approval Hearing, the Court will also consider whether to make final the certification of the Class for settlement purposes, hear any proper objections and arguments to the Settlement, as well as any requests for an award of attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses and a Class Representative Incentive Award that may be sought by Class Counsel. The Court will hold the Final Approval Hearing on September 9, 2021 at 10:30 a.m. via Zoom videoconference (Meeting ID: 974 5431 3798; Password: 501494) or as the Court otherwise directs. The hearing is subject to being changed by the Court, so please visit the Settlement website for updates.

If the Settlement is given final approval, the Court will not make any determination as to the merits of the claims against Defendant or its defenses to those claims. Instead, the Settlement’s terms will take effect and the lawsuit will be dismissed on the merits with prejudice. Both sides have agreed to the Settlement to achieve an early and certain resolution to the lawsuit, in a manner that provides specific and valuable benefits to the members of the Settlement Class. 

If the Court does not approve the Settlement, if it approves the Settlement and the approval is reversed on appeal, or if the Settlement does not become final for some other reason, you will not be paid at this time and Class Members will receive no benefits from the Settlement. Plaintiff, Defendant, and all of the Class Members will be in the same position as they were prior to the execution of the Settlement, and the Settlement will have no legal effect, no class will remain certified (conditionally or otherwise), and the Plaintiff and Defendant will continue to litigate the lawsuit. There can be no assurance that if the Settlement is not approved, the Settlement Class will recover more than is provided in the Settlement, or indeed, anything at all.

The Court has approved the following attorneys to represent the Settlement Class. They are called “Class Counsel.” You will not be charged for these lawyers. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer instead, you may hire one at your own expense.

Myles McGuire
Evan M. Meyers
Timothy P. Kingsbury
Brendan Duffner
MCGUIRE LAW, P.C.
55 W. Wacker Drive, 9th Fl.
Chicago, IL 60601
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Tel: 312-893-7002

This is only a summary of the proposed Settlement of this lawsuit. More details are in the Settlement Agreement which, along with other documents, can be obtained here. If you have any questions, you can also call the Settlement Administrator at 1-833-460-1723 or contact Class Counsel at the number or email addresses set forth above. In addition to the documents available on this website, all pleadings and documents filed in court may be reviewed or copied in the Office of the Clerk. Please do not call the Judge or the Clerk of the Court about this case. They will not be able to give you advice on your options.