eDiscord

Some guy here is suing eHarmony because they won’t match him up for a date due to the fact that he is still legally married.

Technically, Claassen says, he is legally separated. But that’s not good enough for eHarmony, which says it is in the business of matching singles “free of relationship commitments.” That puts him in cyber-dating limbo.

“Most people don’t file a suit to get a date,” Claassen said Friday after filing a civil rights suit last week in Alameda County Superior Court. “If I had my druthers, I’d be divorced by now. I’m emotionally in a different state than I am legally,” the 36-year-old Emeryville lawyer said.

Claassen alleges eHarmony is discriminating against him on the basis of his marital status. He and his wife of eight years separated last May, and he expects the divorce to be final within two months. When he reached marital status on eHarmony’s online compatibility profile, he responded truthfully: “legally separated.”

But eHarmony says its policy is clear: No marrieds need apply.

Citing California civil code, section 51, Claassen alleges eHarmony, based in Pasadena, is breaking state law because it is denying him access to its matching service based on marital status. He seeks $12,000 in civil penalties.

In its defense, the cyber love-finder cites customer surveys and focus group testing that show a vast majority of its potential users want their matches to be divorced, widowed or never married at all.

EHarmony customer service explained to Claassen in an e-mail that “we have to create rules based on what’s best for most people, most of the time.” And they welcome him back — “once your divorce is final.” But Claassen isn’t waiting.

He is “miffed.”

“After taking two hours to fill out their online profile,” he said, “a message popped up at the end saying they would not find me a match.”

Good thing he isn’t gay, because then he’d find out that eHarmony won’t even come near you. This is hardly a surprise, because eHarmony is an outfit run by Neil Clark Warren, an evengelical Christian who was part of Focus On The Family. eHarmony was heavily promoted by James Dobson, the reprehensible head of FOTF, until Warren decided there was more money to be made by going outside the fundamentalist market — but the focus of eHarmony did not change.
So, any informed consumer should know what they are getting into with this website. I hardly think that it’s worth suing over; these days if someone looks at you the wrong way, the solution is a lawsuit.