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Loading ...eHarmony settles gay discrimination suit
11.19.2008 2:33pm EST
(Trenton, New Jersey) Online dating service eHarmony has agreed to stop discriminating against gays and lesbians. The company has long refused to provide services to gays.
In 2005 New Jersey resident Eric McKinley filed a formal complaint with the state Division on Civil Rights. For more than three years, eHarmony vigorously contested the allegations of the complaint.On July 23, 2007, however, the Director of the DCR issued a Finding of Probable Cause that eHarmony had violated New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination.
The company then filed a Motion for Reconsideration of the finding.
Although the state has not issued a ruling on the motion, eHarmony said Tuesday it had reached a settlement with the Attorney General’s Office.
Under the settlement in which eHarmony admits no wrongdoing the company agrees to create a new service for same-sex matching by March 31, 2009.
The company said it would call the new service Compatible Partners.
It also agreed to pay the Division on Civil Rights $50,000 to cover administrative costs and to pay McKinley $5,000 plus give him a free one-year membership to its new service.
eHarmony uses a computerized matching algorithm to put people together. It claims that among its opposite-sex matchings more than 236 members are married each day in the US. It does not say how long those marriages last.
Under the settlement agreement, the company said it reserves the right to inform those using the new same-sex matching service that the Compatibility Matching System it developed is solely based on research involving married heterosexual couples.
“Even though we believed that the complaint resulted from an unfair characterization of our business, we ultimately decided it was best to settle this case with the Attorney General since litigation outcomes can be unpredictable,” said eHarmony, Inc. legal counsel Theodore B. Olson in a statement.
The company said that the two sites will maintain their own matching pools, registration information, and subscriptions. The separate matching pools are based on whether the user chooses to seek an opposite- or same-sex relationship. As a result, users of the Compatible Partners site and eHarmony.com cannot be matched with each other.
While we believe that homosexuals should not be given the special privilege of equality, the fact remains that the Bible repeatedly tells us to follow secular law, and I don’t recall any exceptions for anti-discrimination law.
This was DUMB! I agree,it makes gays look bad. Who gives a rats ass if Eharmony offers it’s services to gay people? Like has been said,there are plenty of gay & lesbian dating sites to choose from.
We don’t need the extra bullshit that this lawsuit will undoubtely bring!
Tank, Homely breeders or not that’s something you can’t do with your same sex partner. sounds like envy to me.
Ho hum! Another seperate but (not so) equal legal decision. If this were a real decision of consequence, we should soon be seeing a Television Ad aimed at gay clients hosted by the sweet/fey little little man who created Harmony. I shall not hold my breath till that happens.
Has anyone but me noticed that almost all of the virulent gay-haters are not necessarily the most masculine looking/talking guys one might imagine they ought to be in their positions as hate-mongering spokespersons. Maybe they all subscribe to the theory that if they can make another person or group look bad they will by comparison not seem so bad/weak/wrong/silly/crazy/sexually inadequate. Seems to me that they are simply over compensating for their insecurities about their own sexual identities. Its been my experience of living in a red-neck, mid-western small town that REAL well-adjusted heterosexual men don’t really give a damn what or why gay people do what they do. As for Harmony.com, its for breeders. I hope they all find happiness.
Sounds like a busy body queen looking for a quick pay out. I wonder if all this means that the gay sites will have to start taking str8 folk. Ugh!
Why exactly is it that a gay person would want to use eharmony?
P.S. blacksteel the question was. Is your front door open to any and everyONE? and did I detect a little bit of discrimation in your note to me because I’m christian? and life goes on.
Radicalrealist Who’s full of hate and fear?
That’s right blacksteel if someone does not want me for whatever reason so be it that’s their choice. We all discriminate everyday ( it’s not always a bad thing).To detect or draw distinctions, distinguish from or between. So, is your front door open to any and everyou? Some how I doubt it. P.S. I’m also African-American and I know what real discrimination is and still life goes on happily.
Personally I think this was the dumbest lawsuit ever. It’s a dating service people. I think we should be focusing our attention on fights that are worth fighting. There are enough sites out there that do want our business why would you want to bother with eHarmony? Not to mention…why not just go out and meet people instead of making someone else do the work for you?
FINALLY I can sue JDate since I’m not Jewish & they aren’t accommodating me.
God’s way said: “it’s his company he should be able to choose how he want’s to run it.”
Following your own logic, companies should be able to discriminate on the basis of religious belief. That, of course, means that they should be able to discriminate against Christians of all kinds, including you.
God’s way,
[Screw] you, and [screw] your stupid god.
Sincerely,
The Radical Realist
I know that eharmony really doesn’t like gays so I still won’t do business with them. I know what is in their hearts. Go to Chemistry.com instead.