(CN) - In a case of first impression, a California appeals court ruled that a man can't sue an online dating service for gender discrimination after he refused to pay once he learned that the dating company offered free services to women.
"A person must tender the purchase price for a business's services or products in order to have standing to sue it for alleged discriminatory practices," Justice McIntyre ruled.
TrueBeginnings LLC, the operator of the online dating site True.com, offered free services to women because it had a disproportionately high number of male customers. After learning about the charge discrepancy, Steven Surrey decided not to subscribe to the dating service and filed a lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court claiming the pricing violated the Unruh Act and the Gender Tax Repeal Act.
The court granted summary judgment to TrueBeginnings and concluded that Surrey lacks standing to bring the action.
The appeals court affirmed, finding that "the mere fact that Surrey became aware TrueBeginnings was offering a discount policy for women subscribers at the time he accessed its website did not constitute a denial of his anti-discrimination rights under those statutes."
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