Update:
- The 9th Circuit again rejected a $5.2 million settlement in a California lawsuit against Tinder regarding age discrimination.
- Plaintiff Lisa Kim has a conflict of interest and did not vigorously litigate the case, the court ruled.
- Kim’s individual action against Tinder remains in the district court and is compelled to arbitration.
- While the district court says Kim conducted extensive informal and formal discovery, the 9th Circuit determined Kim did not conduct any discovery in the case and there were no entries in the proposed fee award indicating there were document reviews, discovery or any informal exchange with Tinder before mediation.
(Jan. 24, 2019)
Tinder users over age 29 managed to secure a $17.3 million class action settlement from the dating app over allegations of age bias.
According to lead plaintiff Lisa Kim, Tinder charges those who are 30-years-old and above more than their younger counterparts to use advanced features rolled out in 2015.
Kim says she paid $19.99 for the advanced features, while users under the age of 29 were only charged $9.99.
Tinder is a smartphone based dating app that allows subscribers to see other users in the same geographic area.
Users are able to infamously “swipe” left or right on profile pictures of other users to indicate an interest.
While Tinder offers a free version of the app, in 2015 the company started offering additional features, like hiding ages and advertisements, rewinding swipes and changing the user’s location.
Tinder defended the price difference to NPR by stating that they were simply using pricing structures implemented by many other services, such as Spotify.
The company, owned by Match.com, also noted that younger users may have a smaller budget to fuel their dating life.
Tinder agreed to settle the class action lawsuit, while not admitting any wrongdoing.
In return for dropping the claims, class members will receive either a $25 check, 25 Super Likes or a free Tinder Plus or Tinder Gold subscription.
In addition, Tinder will bestow $11.5 million in Super Likes to the settlement class.
Super Likes are an app feature that costs $1 and allows users to enhance their profiles, making them more noticeable in the app.
“The Settlement resulted from the Parties’ participation in an all-day mediation session … ” the plaintiff’s motion for preliminary approval says. “The Settlement provides for a substantial financial benefit to each Settlement Class Member.”
Tinder has also agreed to change its pricing policies under the terms of the class action settlement, but it can still offer discounted pricing to users under the age of 21.
“The Settlement allows for an exception in the event of subsequent legislation in California that specifically addresses age-based pricing and, reasonably interpreted, would permit age-based pricing using other age cut-offs,” notes the motion for approval of the Tinder class action settlement.
The class is made up of Californians who subscribed to Tinder Plus or Tinder Gold who between March 2, 2015, and the present, were at least 29 years old and were charged a higher rate than younger users.
According to the Tinder age bias class action settlement agreement, there are more than 230,000 potential class members.
In addition to class member claims, Tinder will pay $1.2 million in attorneys’ fees and a $5,000 lead plaintiff award out of the $17.3 million settlement amount.
Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.
The Tinder users are represented by John P. Kristensen, David L. Weisberg and Christina M. Le of Kristensen Wiesberg LLP and Todd M. Friedman and Adrian R. Bacon of Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman.
The Tinder Plus pricing bias 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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