Tinder Class Action: ‘Tinder Plus’ Pricing Discriminates Against Americans

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Tinder Inc. is facing a class action lawsuit accusing it of violating California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act by charging Americans higher prices for its Tinder Plus service than it charges users in some other countries.

Tinder is a popular matchmaking app that was launched a few years ago. According to the Tinder class action lawsuit, in March 2015, Tinder implemented a premium app called “Tinder Plus,” which charges U.S. users between $9.99 and $19.99 per month depending on a number of factors, including the user’s citizenship, primary language or immigration status.

The Tinder Plus app offers users features that are not available to consumers who use Tinder’s free matchmaking app.

Plaintiff Allan Candelore claims that Tinder charges U.S. citizens more to use the Tinder Plus app than it charges users in other countries. The discriminatory pricing class action lawsuit accuses Tinder of implementing “anti-American pricing.”

“For example, Tinder charges United States citizens as much as $19.99 per month for Tinder Plus, but charges customers who are citizens of other countries as little as $2.99 per month for the same thing – no matter the customers’ gross income, disposable income, or net worth,” the Tinder class action lawsuit states.

Candelore asserts that this discriminatory pricing violates California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, which provides that “[a]ll persons within the jurisdiction of this state are free and equal, and no matter what their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever.”

According to the Tinder class action lawsuit, the Unruh Civil Rights Act did not include citizenship, primary language or immigration status in the list of protected characteristics until Jan. 1, 2016.

Candelore states that, despite California’s numerous anti-discrimination laws and regulations that prohibit unequal treatment based on the characteristics named above, “Tinder has brazenly employed a multi-tiered pricing plan that treats consumers unequally based on at least their citizenship, primary language, or immigration status.”

The Tinder class action lawsuit asserts that Tinder’s multi-tiered pricing plan for its Tinder Plus service is solely to maximize profits and not to benefit users from foreign countries.

Candelore states that he is currently a Tinder Plus subscriber and that he pays $19.99 per month for the service. According to the Tinder class action lawsuit, he is a California resident, a U.S. citizen and his primary language is English.

By filing the Tinder Plus class action lawsuit, Candelore seeks to represent a Class of California consumers who were U.S. citizens and in California when they paid more for the Tinder Plus app than did citizens of other countries since Mar. 1, 2015.

He is seeking injunctive relief, actual damages, statutory damages, attorneys’ fees, and other relief deemed appropriate by the court.

Candelore is represented by Alfred G. Rava of Rava Law Firm.

The Tinder Plus Pricing Class Action Lawsuit is Allan Candelore v. Tinder Inc., Case No. BC641358, in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles.