Tinder Age Discrimination Class Action Settlement Scrapped Due to Possible Collusion

Tinder Age Discrimination Class Action Settlement Overview:

• Who: The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a class action settlement that would have ended claims of Tinder age discrimination. 
• Why: The panel found that the multimillion dollar class action settlement was unfair to Tinder users over the age of 30 who were forced to pay more for the dating app. 
• Where: The Tinder class action lawsuit was remanded to state court. 

A settlement between Tinder and users who claim the company engaged in age discrimination has been scrapped by the 9th Circuit, with the panel of judges saying that the trial judge had “shirked his independent duty to assess the value of the settlement.”

The panel wrote in its ruling that U.S. District Judge John Walter had not been skeptical enough of the settlement in the federal case and failed to probe for collusion between Tinder and class counsel Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman and Kristensen LLP, Reuters reports.

“We find that the district court so underrated the strength of the plaintiff’s case, so overstated the settlement value and so overlooked the suggestions of collusion present as to collectively constitute an abuse of discretion,” wroteJudge Jed Rakoff for the majority.

Users Left Out of Tinder Age Discrmination Class Action Settlement

An example of an oversight was the $6 million benefit counted towards the class in the form of an injunction which bars aged-based pricing for new users in California, but that would not affect the class who are already Tinder users, pointed out the 9th Circuit. 

The class action lawsuit against Tinder accuses it of charging users over 30 years old more than younger users and it was not the only one to make the same allegations. 

Indeed, the plaintiffs in other age discrimination class action lawsuits criticized the settlement as a  “sweetheart deal” that “raised numerous red flags,” including “a reverse-auction situation where the parallel case had already received the imprimatur of the state court of appeal,” according to an objection filed with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.   

Tinder and the plaintiffs who agreed to the age discrimination class action settlement fought against the objections. 

“Objectors are overly cavalier in their use of the term ‘reverse auction,’ which … is often used inappropriately when counsel in a competing class action are displeased that they are not part of a settlement,” lawyers representing the plaintiffs said. 

They also pointed out that Tinder had given each class member 50 Super Likes to use on the app, valued at $50.

Tinder also pointed out that the parties in similar age discrimination class actions had not made moves to settle its case against the company.

Do you use a dating app like Tinder? Do you think you deserve more from the Tinder age discrimination class action settlement? Tell us in the comment section below!

The Tinder users are represented by John P. Kristensen, David L. Weisberg, and Christina M. Le of Kristensen Wiesberg LLP; Todd M. Friedman and Adrian R. Bacon of Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman.

The Tinder Age Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit is Kim v. Tinder Inc., et al., Case No. 2:18-cv-03093, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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