Jdate, part of the Spark Networks dating site network, is being sued by one Soheil Davood, who claims he was taunted by an automated message telling him that he was rejected when he called a women he met on the site. Suing over a stinging practical joke is one thing, the embarrassment of being ridiculed in the national media for not having a sense of humor is another.
Spark needs to do some damage control, probably pay the guy off to make him go away, but what a precedent to set, especially with the Spark Networks IPO on the front burner. I would be surprised if this sort of thing was not covered in the JDate Terms of Service.
[tags: jdate]
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There is no way this guy has a case. True, many people behave abominably online, and it’s tempting to think about suing the users or the company for emotional damages. But if everyone who felt taunted by JDate or a JDater sued the company, they’d need a whole school of law dedicated to online dating misdemeanors. With online dating, you take your chances, and it sucks, but it is what it is. At least IMHO.
I’m not a lawyer, I’m not a lot of things, however, my common sense says that if an automated, computer-generated, generic, sterile, synthetic response punishes your most inner-psyche and “hurts your feelers” that badly, you might want to take a moment, look at yourself in the mirror, tell yourself over and over that someone out there cares about you, and move on. Better yet, take your litigation funds that you were going to use to punish JDate and donate them to the Red Cross and save a life down south. Again, I’m not lawyer.
Might as well sue a bar every time a women turns you down at one!