Tinder Class Action Says App Discriminates Against Users Based On Age

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Tinder faces a class action lawsuit alleging that the dating app discriminates against users based on age.

Lisa Kim has filed a class action lawsuit against Tinder Inc., Match Group LLC, Match Group Inc., and others, alleging that she was discriminated against based on her age.

In 2015, Kim says she downloaded the free Tinder app onto her phone. In March of that year, Tinder introduced the Tinder Plus services which allowed users to change their location, hide distance, rewind last swipe, see no paid advertisements, use super swipes, hide age, and control who they see.

Tinder Plus was offered for $9.99, at a 50 percent discount, but any user over 30 years of age would be charged full price at $19.99 for the same services. In 2016, Kim, who was over 30 at the time, purchased a subscription to Tinder Plus and was charged $19.99.

She was not offered a discount based on her age, unlike younger Tinder users. Kim argues that this is blatant age discrimination.

Tinder has defended the move to offer a discount to younger users. “Over the past few months, we’ve tested Tinder Plus extensively in several countries,” Tinder spokeswoman Rosette Pambakian told NPR. “We’ve priced Tinder Plus based on a combination of factors, including what we’ve learned through our testing, and we’ve found that these price points were adopted very well by certain age demographics. Lots of products offer differentiated price tiers by age, like Spotify does for students, for example. Tinder is no different; during our testing we’ve learned, not surprisingly, that younger users are just as excited about Tinder Plus but are more budget constrained and need a lower price to pull the trigger.”

Kim brings her complaints against the company under the California Unruh Civil Rights Act. The California Unruh Civil Rights Act aims to prohibit businesses from engaging in discrimination. The Act applies in situations where businesses exclude individuals or where treatment is unequal based on discrimination. Kim argues that unequal treatment includes “offering price discounts on an arbitrary basis to certain classes of individuals.”

“Whoever denies, aids or incites a denial, or makes any discrimination or distinction contrary [the Unruh Civil Rights Act] is liable for each and every offense for the actual damages and any amount that may be determined by a jury, or a court sitting without a jury, up to a maximum of three times the amount of actual damage but in no case less than four thousand dollars ($4,000),” the Tinder class action lawsuit states.

Kim seeks to represent people in California, who were over the age of 30, and purchased Tinder Plus and did not receive a discount due to their age. The Tinder Plus class action seeks a Class certification, restitution, statutory damages, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.

The plaintiffs 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 PC.

The Tinder Plus Pricing 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.

UPDATE: On Jan. 20, 2019, Tinder users over the age of 29 managed to secure a $17.3 million class action settlement from the dating app over allegations of age discrimination.

UPDATE 2: April 2019, the Tinder age bias class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.