A lawsuit has been filed in the Santa Monica Superior Court against Grindr Inc. The plaintiff, identified only as John Doe, alleges that the West Hollywood-based LGBTQ hookup app matched him with four adult men who sexually abused him in 2019, despite his being forthright that he was under legal age at the time. The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, and alleges strict product liability and negligence.
The suit alleges that Grindr has known for over a decade that its core product facilitates the sexual predation of children, and that the dating app enables children to create online profiles without the permission or knowledge of parents or guardians, then connects them with adults for in-person sexual encounters. The plaintiff, who was a 15-year-old at the time, learned about Grindr through its marketing and downloaded the app to make friends with other boys who identified as gay or bisexual. He says he was matched with four adult men over a four-day period and that he was sexually assaulted in all four encounters.
The suit states that at least two of the matches occurred while the plaintiff was on school property. He shared photos of himself on campus, and made statements consistent with his status as a minor.
The plaintiff claims he has suffered life-changing emotional and psychological injuries as a result of Grindr’s failure to create a safe product. Due to his trauma, he never obtained a high school diploma, has no plans to attend college, and is unemployed. The suit further alleges that Grindr has promoted itself on TikTok, where almost a third of its users are teens, and has published marketing videos depicting purported users at middle school or high schools.
Grindr Inc. moved to the City of West Hollywood in 2016 and is currently located in the Red Building of the Pacific Design Center.
That boy knew exactly what he was doing. He joined that site not because he wanted to join a book club. Just a young Slut trying to work the system
You must be high
What do other websites do to make sure that minors don’t lie about their age to get access? What safeguards are there that Grindr wasn’t using that the Plaintiff feels they should?