EHarmony sued in California for excluding gays

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In summary, eHarmony, a popular dating website, was sued in California for discrimination against gays. The lawsuit claimed that the site's policy of only matching heterosexual couples violated the state's anti-discrimination law. As a result, eHarmony was forced to create a separate website called Compatible Partners to cater to same-sex couples. The case brought attention to the issue of discrimination in online dating and sparked debate on the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals in the digital world.
  • #1
Evo
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Maybe I'm too dense to understand this. Why should an online dating service be forced to include all possible sexual/religious/whatever orientation dating services?

I see ads for "Catholics Only" dating services, "gay only" dating services, "married men looking for cute young girls" dating services, yeah that one is advertised on OKCupid. :bugeye:

I just think this is getting ridiculous. I hate frivlous lawsuits. Am I just not getting it? I mean seriously, if this law suit has any merit, could someone explain to me why?

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The popular online dating service eHarmony was sued on Thursday for refusing to offer its services to gays, lesbians and bisexuals.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070531/tc_nm/usa_eharmony_gays_dc

I don't even like eHarmony.
 
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  • #2
Yeah, this didn't make sense to me either. It's amazing what people can sue for these days.

I'm sure there are many gay dating services out there, and I must wonder why this woman didn't just use one of those. I'm guessing she wanted to use this as a platform for sue for changes in laws towards gays. But my question is: what law does this case pertain to? As you said, there's already precedent for dating services that cater to specific categories of people.
 
  • #3
gay people have their own dating websites. i don't see why they would go through the trouble of suing eHarmony. either they honestly think this is a serious mark against them as gay people and is offensive or they just want a reason to become fabulously rich very easily.

does this mean straight people should start suing gay dating services for not allowing straight people to use it?
 
  • #4
arunma said:
It's amazing what people can sue for these days.

there was a car crash and the passengers of a car involved in the crash were inside of the burning car. a bystander went over and dragged them out of the car by the time the first responders arrived. the victims of the car accident later sued the man who dragged them out of the burning car because they claim they suffered from back pain and other injuries as a result of the forceful way they were dragged from the burning car.

ridiculous.
 
  • #5
Ki Man said:
there was a car crash and the passengers of a car involved in the crash were inside of the burning car. a bystander went over and dragged them out of the car by the time the first responders arrived. the victims of the car accident later sued the man who dragged them out of the burning car because they claim they suffered from back pain and other injuries as a result of the forceful way they were dragged from the burning car.

ridiculous.
Perhaps a settlement is in order? He'll pay if they agree to be trapped inside a burning car with no one to rescue them.
 
  • #6
As I was reading this thread I accidentally spilled boiling-hot coffee on myself. NOWHERE on this thread does it warn me that I could spill coffee on myself.

I give you one week to consult your best lawyers, because I'm suing your a** off!
 
  • #7
But yea I think it's ridiculous. Even if e-harmony was run by homophobes, you don't educate people by suing them. No one is perfect. I have friends who are homophobes, and i have gay friends; I have friends who are racists, and I have friends of different races... I even have a friend who's a total anti-semite and I'm a jew! I have no clue how that works for him but whatever... I don't think they're bad people, just misinformed. I won't change their mind by suing them or hating them. And who am I to act holier-than-thou as if I'm a perfect moral being.

Basically everyone is too sensitive about these things, which leads to overreacting, which leads to them not being taken seriously or ruining any possibility of communication.
 
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  • #8
moe darklight said:
As I was reading this thread I accidentally spilled boiling-hot coffee on myself. NOWHERE on this thread does it warn me that I could spill coffee on myself.

I give you one week to consult your best lawyers, because I'm suing your a** off!
:bugeye: :eek: Rut roh

We really need some disclaimers. I personally have killed a couple of keyboards by spewing hot coffee or coke all over them while reading.:grumpy:
 
  • #9
sue them all Evo! you could be rich by now!
 
  • #10
Evo said:
Maybe I'm too dense to understand this. Why should an online dating service be forced to include all possible sexual/religious/whatever orientation dating services?

I see ads for "Catholics Only" dating services, "gay only" dating services, "married men looking for cute young girls" dating services, yeah that one is advertised on OKCupid. :bugeye:

I just think this is getting ridiculous. I hate frivlous lawsuits. Am I just not getting it? I mean seriously, if this law suit has any merit, could someone explain to me why?

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The popular online dating service eHarmony was sued on Thursday for refusing to offer its services to gays, lesbians and bisexuals.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070531/tc_nm/usa_eharmony_gays_dc

I don't even like eHarmony.

I agree. It's not like catering to one crowd is discrimination against the rest. What's more, they claim to have a unique formula or whatever to make matches. If this wasn't tested for gay relationships, they may have no idea if it applies and would be putting their reputation at risk.

The next thing you know, they'd be getting sued for making bad matches and ruining people's lives.
 
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  • #11
Yanks are such a litiginous society that they don't bear serous consideration. Rampant idiocy in action.
Is, or is not, eHarmony a privately owned company? If so, it has no obligation to accommodate anyone that it doesn't want to.
For the record, I am as far removed from being homophobic as a straight guy can be. I also believe very firmly that no one has to pay tribute to people that they don't approve of.
If the National Jewish Council (or whatever country's equivalent thereof) refused to let a neo-Nazi post, could they be sued?
If some Jerry Falwell-type site refused to air my views as an atheist, I sure as non-hell wouldn't try to bring suit against them.
 
  • #12
I'm trying to figure out how a gay person would benefit from using eHarmony anyway if they don't include other gay people on their site. :confused: If they primarily attract heterosexuals to join, who exactly does this person think she's going to be matched with? A matchmaking service, of all things, seems like it's better specialized than not. But, some people will sue for anything. So, even the world was completely backward and she really did win this, what does she gain anyway? The right to pay membership fees for a service that has nobody else on it to match her with?
 
  • #13
Ki Man said:
there was a car crash and the passengers of a car involved in the crash were inside of the burning car. a bystander went over and dragged them out of the car by the time the first responders arrived. the victims of the car accident later sued the man who dragged them out of the burning car because they claim they suffered from back pain and other injuries as a result of the forceful way they were dragged from the burning car.

ridiculous.

This seems off. I thought that there were many states, if not most, that have Good Samaritan laws, where you can't be held accountable for anything you did wrong while trying to help in an emergency. Ex. If someone was drowning and you pulled them out and they needed CPR, but there was no one trained to preform it, you could try to preform it without having to worry about the repercussions (i.e. being sued) if you did it wrong and the person died.
 
  • #14
That's the way it is here, with one exception that strikes me as peculiar. I have friends in the fire department. One of the paramedics told me that he's not allowed to assist in such a situation when off duty, because he would be liable if something went wrong. Personally, I'd rather have him help me than an accountant or a plumber.
 
  • #15
Do gay dating services allow straight people to join? Could they be sued if they refused? What if masses of straight people insisted on joining gay dating sites? They wouldn't be gay dating sites any more. All sites would become just... dating sites, catering to no special interests.

Homogeny is boring. If a privately owned business wishes to cater to a certain demographic then why shouldn't they be allowed to? We should tolerate each other's individuality, but I don't see why everyone has a right to be involved in people's private affairs.
 
  • #16
I've always been astounded by the convenience some people use when dealing with diversity. They like to say, "We have to be inclusive and treat everyone as equals and not focus on what makes us different!" on one hand, and then turn around and want special treatment for being a member of such and such group. They focus so much on what makes their little group different that what they do subtly causes those same divisions they're trying to eradicate.
 
  • #17
Ki Man said:
there was a car crash and the passengers of a car involved in the crash were inside of the burning car. a bystander went over and dragged them out of the car by the time the first responders arrived. the victims of the car accident later sued the man who dragged them out of the burning car because they claim they suffered from back pain and other injuries as a result of the forceful way they were dragged from the burning car.

ridiculous.

Probably from the US.

I rarely hear stupid stories like that from here. In fact, I don't even see Canadian lawyers with commercials. Whenever I watch American channels, 1 out of 3 are lawyers promoting the quick way to get rich. Another one is debt consolidation, everyone spending with no money. Another one is all them small colleges. Like damn, commercials are brutal on American channels.
 
  • #18
About 43% of American families spend more than they earn each year.

Average households carry some $8,000 in credit card debt.

Personal bankruptcies have doubled in the past decade.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/SavingandDebt/P70581.asp

I'd kick myself in the head if I owed over $8,000 in credit card debt!
 
  • #20
JasonRox said:
Probably from the US.

I rarely hear stupid stories like that from here. In fact, I don't even see Canadian lawyers with commercials. Whenever I watch American channels, 1 out of 3 are lawyers promoting the quick way to get rich. Another one is debt consolidation, everyone spending with no money. Another one is all them small colleges. Like damn, commercials are brutal on American channels.

What channel do you watch, QVC? Lawyer commercials are not main stream american TV. You typically see that on low budget tv stations at 2 am.

Side:

Why do you constantly bash America? Is it because were so much greater and richer than you? Americas lil'bro, always mad for attention. I understand :wink: :devil::devil::devil:

I don't see anyone trashing Canda (which is a great country) the way you Bash the US (constantly). Enough cheap shots.
 
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  • #21
I have a Canadian cousin. He got really ticked off when I told him that Canada is basically the 51st state. Must be little brother syndrome.
 
  • #22
After a minute of thinking about this, I realized it's even stupider than I thought.

The reason? The company isn't stopping her from using the service because she's gay! She can use the service all she likes, it's just not going to give her women to date.

In effect, she's suing because the software lacks a feature that's not promised anywhere!
 
  • #23
Alkatran said:
The reason? The company isn't stopping her from using the service because she's gay! She can use the service all she likes, it's just not going to give her women to date.

I'm sure that hasn't stopped them from using her profile to send to a bunch of men as part of their matches to get them to keep paying. :rofl:
 
  • #24
cyrusabdollahi said:
What channel do you watch, QVC? Lawyer commercials are not main stream american TV. You typically see that on low budget tv stations at 2 am.

Side:

Why do you constantly bash America? Is it because were so much greater and richer than you? Americas lil'bro, always mad for attention. I understand :wink: :devil::devil::devil:

I don't see anyone trashing Canda (which is a great country) the way you Bash the US (constantly). Enough cheap shots.

American bashing? Where is the last thread I bashed the US in? I only remember one.

I consider US and Canada the same except when it comes to finance. And the US won't be rich for long. You're economy is weak right now and ours is strong.
 
  • #25
You know eharmony won't let you join if you are married. I'm suing!
 
  • #26
There is a subtext. eHarmony was founded by a religious group, if you select 'separated' on your status it gives you a message about not being suitable for you (although it will let you in if you are divorced) I think it is this stance that made it a particular target.
They settled out of court for a few $10,000 - in business it's sometimes cheaper to just pay up than fight, especially with the possible bad publicity.
 
  • #27
Cyrus said:
What channel do you watch, QVC? Lawyer commercials are not main stream american TV. You typically see that on low budget tv stations at 2 am.

Side:

Why do you constantly bash America? Is it because were so much greater and richer than you? Americas lil'bro, always mad for attention. I understand :wink: :devil::devil::devil:

I don't see anyone trashing Canda (which is a great country) the way you Bash the US (constantly). Enough cheap shots.
What are you talking about? I see lawyer commercials on everything from Fox to CNN to FX to Cartoon Network.
 
  • #28
Sewing people for absolutely no legitimate reason has become the American way. Its like some fad that caught on in the 90's. Like the stupid woman who spilled hot coffee on her lap and sued McDonald's for not stating the obvious. People will continue to sue other people for stupid reasons because they know that they can get away with it.

OKCupid.

That site is ridiculously entertaining. Can I stalk you Evo?
 
  • #30
do these people actually have a case?
 
  • #31
mgb_phys said:
For your amusement http://www.lawsuit.no/archive.html
While I like making fun of this as much as the next person -- this site looks like it's meant for entertainment, not educational purposes. (translation: I have no confidence in the veracity of these reports)
 
  • #32
The one where the owner of a BMW which had been repainted by the dealer before sale got $4000 in damages due to the lowered value of the car and $4M in punitive damages is true.
http://www.law.northwestern.edu/atla/outlines/Torts-CaseBriefs.doc
It is being discussed as a reason to introduce limits on Tort damages
 
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1. What is the lawsuit against eHarmony in California about?

The lawsuit against eHarmony in California is about the dating website's alleged discrimination against gay and lesbian individuals by not offering a same-sex matching service.

2. Who filed the lawsuit against eHarmony?

The lawsuit was filed by a gay man named Eric McKinley in 2007, and was later joined by the New Jersey-based gay rights group, the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights.

3. What is eHarmony's defense in the lawsuit?

eHarmony has argued that their matching algorithm is based on research and data that focuses on heterosexual relationships, and that they have the right to operate their business based on their beliefs and values.

4. Has eHarmony made any changes to their services as a result of the lawsuit?

Yes, as part of a settlement in 2008, eHarmony agreed to launch a separate dating service called Compatible Partners for same-sex relationships. They also paid $500,000 to the plaintiffs and agreed to pay for attorney fees.

5. Is eHarmony still facing discrimination lawsuits?

As of 2021, there have been no further discrimination lawsuits against eHarmony. However, the company has faced criticism for not being inclusive of other gender identities and sexual orientations on their dating platform.

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