A California appellate court recently ruled that Tinder’s age-based pricing strategy violated the state’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, which broadly outlaws discrimination based on sex, race, sexual orientation, age, and other classes. California’s Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles reversed the trial court’s dismissal of a class action brought by a putative group of customers over 30 years of age, who claim Tinder improperly charged them more for a premium service than it did users in the 18-29 age range.
This case, which has drawn a great deal of publicity, may appear to signal the beginning of a judicial push against age-based price differences, but the implications outside California are likely limited.
In March 2015, the free dating service switched to a “freemium” pricing model. Users could still join Tinder without cost, but for a fee, they could upgrade their membership to Tinder Plus and receive additional features, including the ability to undo mistaken swipes or expand their geographic filter for potential matches. For this membership upgrade, users over 30 paid a $20 subscription fee, while users under 30 paid only $14.99 (or $9.99, depending on any promotions in effect).
Tinder claimed that before setting the price, it conducted market research that showed that users under 30 were more likely to be “budget constrained” and were less likely to pay an increased fee. The named plaintiffs (one of whom previously sued a women-only networking event to allow the inclusion of men) argued that this stated basis failed to justify what amounted to a surcharge on older customers, some of whom might actually have had less disposable cash than younger users.
The court found that, under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, Tinder’s stated basis failed to justify what amounted to age discrimination. The court acknowledged that while this practice might make business sense, it violated the spirit of California’s law, which treats people equally unless the legislature provides an explicit basis to do otherwise (as it has for discounts for elderly persons and minor children). The court found no such legislative basis for young adults generally.
Many other products lend themselves well to different pricing tiers like the one challenged in the Tinder case: software licenses, content subscriptions, club memberships, etc. This scrutiny of Tinder’s pricing suggests that potential plaintiffs may scrutinize any pricing benefitting a non-elderly or minor age group. However, because the age-based claim that will now proceed in California is cutting-edge and largely untested, the full impact of this ruling remains to be seen. In several states (California, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin), courts have found that ladies’ nights violate state discrimination laws, but have not clearly addressed age-based pricing in a similar context. Regardless, the case law in California and elsewhere will continue to develop. For example, it remains an open question whether student discounts would pass the Appeal Court’s “legislative-findings” standard as applied in the Tinder case.