SIERRA SUN - Jan 3 - True.com was very successful but had a disproportionately high percentage of male patrons. So True.com offered free services to women who joined. Steven Surrey visited True.com but after discovering the discrepancy in its pricing policy, he did not subscribe and sued the company claiming the differential pricing for services for women violated both the Unruh Act and the Gender Tax Repeal Act. The trial court ruled for True.com. Surrey appealed. The Unruh Act is an anti-discrimination statute. “All persons … no matter what their sex, race, color, etc. are entitled to the full and equal services in all business establishments. The Gender Tax Repeal Act provides that “No business establishment may discriminate, with respect to the price charged for services, against a person because of the person's gender.” I.e., gender based price discounts are against the law. The question before the Court of Appeal was whether Surrey was denied his rights and entitled to sue — given that he never subscribed for or utilized the True.com services.
The full article was originally published at Sierra Sun, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: Dating sites should not offer different pricing for women. But they can always offer free memberships to women directly after they sign up as part of 'free membership sweepstakes.'
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