A Riverside class-action lawsuit alleging the dating app Bumble discriminates against men was settled Jan. 28 with a $3.26 million payout and a new reactions feature.
The 2018 suit alleged that Bumble’s feature of requiring women to message first violates the Unruh Civil Rights Act and the Unfair Competition Law.
The settlement is not an admission of guilt, and Bumble maintains its innocence in the settlement. Although the parties entered into the agreement May 11, it was not approved until Jan. 28.
The lawsuit
On Bumble, users view each other’s profiles, and swipe right if they want to match. After the match is made, women must message first within 24 hours, otherwise the match expires.
The suit claimed the women-message-first feature violates the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which states that all people, regardless of sex, “are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever.” By extension of the women-message-first feature violating the Civil Rights Act, the feature also violates the Unfair Competition Law, the suit alleged.
The suit originally requested an injunction against Bumble’s women-message-first feature.
The settlement
The class was every male in California who bought Bumble’s premium service and self-identified as interested in women from May 29, 2016, to June 1. A documented 436,051 people fit into that class.
Class members who joined the suit will receive 20 free “super swipes,” at a value of $32, which if used notify other app users of the person’s interest. Class members can alternately apply to receive a pro rata value of the $3 million settlement fund.
As part of the settlement, Bumble will also allow any user in California to send predetermined emojis in reaction to other user’s profiles, whether or not they’ve matched yet.
Neither member of the suit can respond to press inquiries as part of the settlement.
The dating app lawyer
Adrian Bacon, of the Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman and counsel for the plaintiff, previously represented a woman in a Central District of California class-action suit against the dating app Tinder.
That suit alleged that Tinder Premium’s price discounts for users under 30 also violated California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act and its unfair competition statute, according to an Aug. 17 appellate ruling of the case.
In a settlement that was reversed on appeal, Tinder halted age-based pricing in California. They also gave class members 50 “super likes,” at a value of $50 each, and gave class members who submitted claims the choices between $25 in cash, 25 “super likes,” or a month free to the app’s premium service, according to the appellate ruling.
Parties
Kirilose Mansour, 30, a Riverside County resident, filed the suit.
Todd Friedman and Adrian Bacon of the Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman, and Steven Soliman of The Soliman Firm, represented Mansour.
Rita Haeusler and Robby Naoufal of the Los Angeles office of Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP represented Bumble.
Riverside Superior Judge Sunshine Sykes presided.
Case No. RIC1810011
Read the complaint here.
Read the settlement here.
