Candelore v. Tinder, Inc.

A court-approved Notice was sent to inform you about a class action lawsuit, Candelore v. Tinder, Inc., brought on behalf of subscribers to a Tinder premium service who were charged a higher price for that service based on their age. You received the Notice because, according to Tinder’s records, you are a member of the group of subscribers who paid a higher price for Tinder Plus and/or Gold because of your age. The Notice provides information about the case and explains how to exclude yourself (opt out) from the class action if you do not want to be included and bound by the outcome.

The Notice is an important legal document. We recommend that you read all of it. If you have questions or need assistance, please call one of the telephone numbers listed below.

DO NOT TELEPHONE THE COURT OR THE COURT CLERK’S OFFICE TO INQUIRE ABOUT THIS CASE.

Please read the Notice carefully to understand your options and decide if you want to stay in the case or opt out.

The deadline to ask to be excluded from the case is November 25, 2024.

The court certified the following class:

All persons who purchased Tinder Plus or Tinder Gold in California at any time from March 2, 2015, through October 11, 2024, who were over the age of 29 at the time of such purchase (or over the age of 28, if the purchase was on or after March 2, 2016) and who were charged a higher price by Tinder due to their age.

According to Tinder’s records, you are a member of this certified class.

In May 2015, this class action lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court against Tinder, Inc. The lawsuit was brought by Allan Candelore on behalf of himself and other California consumers who were charged a higher price for their Tinder subscriptions as a result of their age. The lawsuit alleges that Tinder’s higher pricing for older users violated California’s Unruh Act (Cal. Civ. Code § 51 et seq.) and California’s Unfair Competition Law (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 et seq.).

The lawsuit seeks statutory damages for each class member under the Unruh Act, restitution of the higher amounts paid by older subscribers under the Unfair Competition Law, and injunctive relief.

Tinder denies that it did anything wrong or violated any law or that any class members were injured by its age-based pricing policy. Tinder has informed the court that it will seek an order requiring all or most class members’ claims to be resolved on an individual basis in binding arbitration rather than in court. If Tinder seeks such relief, plaintiff will oppose it.

The outcome of the case has not yet been decided. In 2018, the California Court of Appeal issued a decision (Candelore v. Tinder, Inc., 19 Cal.App.5th 1138 (2018)) that reinstated this lawsuit after its initial dismissal. However, the trial court has not yet ruled on whether Tinder violated any law or whether class members are entitled to recover any benefits.

A copy of the Court of Appeal’s 2018 decision, along with other important case documents, is available here.

You may have received notices in 2019 and 2021 about proposed settlements in a similar class action lawsuit against Tinder, under the case name Kim v. Tinder, Inc. Those settlements have been rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. No money will be paid under those settlements, and the Kim case is no longer proceeding as a class action. The lawsuit described in the Notice, Candelore v. Tinder, is the only class action asserting the claims that are the subject of the Notice. Your right to participate in this class action is not affected by whether you submitted a claim for a settlement payment in Kim or opted out of that settlement.

In a class action, the court appoints attorneys to represent the interests of all class members. In this case, the court has appointed three law firms as class counsel:

Class Counsel
Kimberly A. Kralowec Kathleen Styles Rogers KRALOWEC LAW, P.C. 3132A 24th Street San Francisco, CA 94110  1-415-546-6800  TinderClassAction@kraloweclaw.com	Alfred G. Rava RAVA LAW FIRM 3667 Voltaire Street San Diego, CA 92106  1-619-238-1993  AlRava@RavaLaw.com	Michael Rubin Eve H. Cervantez Jonathan Rosenthal ALTSHULER BERZON LLP 177 Post Street, Suite 300 San Francisco, CA 94108  1-415-877-5587  TinderClassAction@altber.com

You will not be charged for these law firms’ legal services in this case. If the class prevails, these firms’ reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses may be paid, subject to the court's review and approval, by Tinder, or from any judgment or any classwide settlement approved by the court.

If you want to be represented by your own lawyer as well, you may hire one at your own expense.

The parties will continue to pursue their rights in this class action and to prepare the case for trial unless a settlement is reached. If the parties settle and the court grants preliminary approval, you will receive another notice describing the settlement and your rights with respect to that settlement. If Tinder is successful in obtaining an order requiring some or all class members to arbitrate their claims individually, the affected class members will be notified.

You have two options. You can do nothing and remain as a class member in the case, or you can opt out of the case.

If you do nothing, you will remain a class member in the case and your potential claims against Tinder based on its alleged age-based pricing will be governed by the outcome. If the plaintiff and class members win the case or settle with court approval, you and other class members may be entitled to an award of money. If Tinder wins, you and other class members may receive nothing. By staying in the class, you give up your right to sue Tinder individually about the claims in this lawsuit.

If you timely opt out (i.e., exclude yourself from the class), you will receive no money or benefits from this lawsuit and will not be bound by the result, and you may pursue your own individual claims against Tinder. If you opt out and want to be represented by an attorney, you will need to hire your own attorney.

To opt out of the case, you must submit an opt-out statement to the Notice Administrator. You may do so by sending an opt-out statement by U.S. Mail or by email to:

Candelore v. Tinder
Notice Administrator
P.O. Box 4417
Portland, OR, 97208-4417
1-888-884-2816
info@tindercalclassaction.com

If you send an opt-out statement, it must include your name, address, telephone number, email address, and signature, along with the following statement:

“I am a class member in Candelore v. Tinder, Inc., Case No. BC583162 (L.A. Superior Court). I have read the court-approved Class Notice. I wish to exclude myself (opt-out) from the class. I understand that by doing so, I will not be entitled to receive any economic or other recovery from that lawsuit and will not be bound by any adverse rulings or judgment either.”

The deadline for submitting any opt-out statements is November 25, 2024. Any opt-out statements emailed or postmarked after that date will not be valid.

The Notice summarizes the court’s class certification ruling and your rights as a class member. More details are available here. To get a copy of the case documents or get answers to your questions, you may contact the Notice Administrator or class counsel.