eHarmony agrees to make site "welcoming" to gays and lesbians, ending L.A. lawsuit

Putting an end to two and a half years of litigation, the online dating site eHarmony.com has reached an agreement to pay a half a million dollars and make its website more “welcoming” to seekers of same-sex matches, settling a class-action lawsuit brought by gays and lesbians in California.

The company had already launched a service for gays and lesbians, called Compatible Partners, in an unrelated settlement with New Jersey’s attorney general last year.

As a result of the settlement agreement filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court and pending approval by a judge, eHarmony will add a “gay and lesbian dating” category to their main website -- which will direct users to Compatible Partners -- and allow bisexual users to access both websites for one fee. 

The eHarmony site currently provides links for Christian, black, Jewish, Hispanic, senior and local dating. California residents who have filed written complaints with the company will receive $4,000 each from the settlement funds.

The website, founded in 2000 by clinical psychologist Neil Clark Warren, an evangelical Christian, did not provide same-sex matching services until last year, contending that the company’s closely-guarded compatibility models were based on studies of married heterosexual couples. In court filings, attorneys for eHarmony also pointed to websites exclusively providing same-sex matches, such as gay.com or guys4men.com, saying the company “does not stand alone among companies that provide their relationship-matching services to a single sexual orientation.”

Neither the company nor its attorneys immediately returned a request for comment. As part of the California agreement, the Compatible Partners site will display the eHarmony logo “in a prominent position,” and will state that the service is “brought to you by eHarmony.” The site currently states that it is “powered by eHarmony.”

-- Victoria Kim

Comments

[CC]

I'm a civil rights attorney. DB, yes, you can sue the websites that only offer same sex matches for discriminating against heterosexuals. It's a violation of Cal. Civil Code section 51. A minimum of $4,000 in statutory damages is recoverable under Civil Code section 52.

And for the rest of you - no, for better or for worse, in America businesses do not have the right to determine who they serve or don't serve if they do it on the basis of protected classifications such as race, religion, sex/gender, or sexual orientation. The law requires that businesses open to the public treat everyone equally on those bases. Yes, there is sometimes a downside to this and it isn't always convenient, but on balance it's better that way.

[Scrutator]

Here's just another example of the erosion of our freedoms. The lawsuits against eHarmony should've been tossed out long ago citing constitutional freedoms. Companies and individuals should be free to construct whatever business model they believe will be successful.

I don't want to go of on a rant but, for example: If I want to open a restaurant and allow smoking inside, then I should be free to do so. If non-smoking patrons don't want to eat there or work there, they can go eat or work somewhere else.

Wake up people: Your rights and freedoms are being stripped away, little by little.

[Archangel]

In response to @Posted by: Kn0ttyKn1tt3r; Sadly there is absolutely no dignified way to respond to your stupendous exhibition of such a diminished IQ that proved you are wholly incapable of compressing data contained in an opinion and convert that into some cognizant and relevant response. The best you can manage is a pathetic display of your compromised mental capacity into the form of a personal attack. Kudos to the Idiot!
The LAT's graciously (or grudgingly) provides this forum to air ideas, positions, and opinions. Largely, much of this dialog may benefit a ground for some common understanding between those who disagree... and then there is YOU, the exception. With that said, I can very safely conclude that the human experience will never, ever realize the ultimate potential that it was intended and designed to achieve. People like you are too busy enjoying self degradation.
In response to @Posted by: bwunderlick.
"I'm confused Archangel, why do Gays want their hands on your, our children? And why will he punish Neil Clark Warren?
Whatever the answers, man, I want to subscribe to your newsletter!"
See, this is the problem bwunderlick; the answers to your questions are well abundant if you take the time to seek them out. In fact, the problem within your not-so-veiled sarcasm is that the mysterious (to you) entity that endowed all humanity with the ability to reason and apply logic also placed 'my' "newsletter" right between your ears the moment you entered this life. Sadly, at some point, you choose to cancel your subscription!

[dating]

that's a good news,when I came accross yahoo answer,I see many gays and lesbians seeking a site for them