A settlement Wednesday between eHarmony Inc. and the New Jersey attorney general requires the online heterosexual dating service to also cater to homosexuals, raising questions about whether other services that target a niche clientele could be forced to expand their business models.
The settlement stemmed from a complaint, filed with the New Jersey attorney general’s office by a gay match seeker in 2005, that eHarmony had violated his rights under the state’s discrimination law by not offering a same-sex dating service. In 2007, the attorney general found probable cause that eHarmony had violated the state’s Law Against Discrimination.
As part of the agreement, the Pasadena, Calif.-based company will develop and market Compatible Partners, a Web dating service for same-sex couples, and will allow the site’s first 10,000 users to register free. EHarmony will also pay $50,000 to the attorney general’s office and $5,000 to the man who first brought the case.
In a statement Wednesday, eHarmony denied violating discrimination law and said its business had been based on years of researching opposite-sex marriages to understand what makes such couples compatible.
EHarmony was launched in 2000 by Neil Clark Warren, an evangelical Christian who practiced for years as a clinical psychologist. Dr. Warren is no longer involved in day-to-day management but is the company’s chairman. A spokesman said Dr. Warren had no comment on the settlement beyond the company’s statement.
A fringe activity a decade ago, online dating has soared in popularity, and many of eHarmony’s competitors allow same-sex matches. Consumers are expected to dole out nearly $1 billion in fees for online dating sites this year, according to Forrester Research, and the market is expected to expand by 10% in each of the next five years.
EHarmony is among the most popular dating Web sites, along with such sites as Yahoo Personals and IAC/InterActiveCorp’s Match.com. EHarmony attracted nearly 2.6 million unique visitors in October, a 28% jump from a year earlier, according to comScore Inc.
Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said the claim against eHarmony was valid but not an issue his group would pursue. “We are focused on discrimination against parents, discrimination in employment, the real core issues that have a severely negative impact on our community.”
David Bernstein, who teaches constitutional law at George Mason University School of Law, said the discrimination claim “seems like quite a stretch,” but he worried it could encourage similar claims. “If you start a dating service for African Americans, do you need one for whites and Latinos? If you have one for Jews, do you need one for Christians and Muslims?”
EHarmony faces a similar discrimination claim in a California court. It’s unclear if this settlement will affect that case.
The attorney general’s office didn’t return a call seeking comment. “I applaud the decision of eHarmony to settle this case and extend its matching services to those seeking same-sex relationships,” said J. Frank Vespa-Papaleo, director of the office’s civil rights division, in a statement.
EHarmony says it will launch its new site by March 31.
