SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - Class action lawyers have ended their pursuit of a case against a dating service they claim bilked customers.
While an appeal of their loss was pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, lawyers at Balestriere Fariello apparently reached an agreement with It's Just Lunch to drop the case, which was never certified as a class action.
If a settlement is involved, terms were not disclosed in a Jan. 30 notice. Los Angeles federal judge Jesus Bernal on Aug. 25 had granted summary judgment to IJL, leading the plaintiff lawyers to file their appeal with the Ninth Circuit.
It's Just Lunch was accused of luring consumers to pay thousands of dollars for a "personalized matchmaking service" that did not live up to that billing.
"The record reflects that Defendants have a process that complies with Plaintiffs' definition of personalized matchmaking services: 'a process where a matchmaker works with a customer to find a match based on that customer's preferences and desired traits,'" Bernal wrote.
"As to (plaintiff Rosanne) Vrugtman, the record shows that Vrugtman’s matchmaker had a call with her to take note of her preferences and desired traits, that her matchmaker considered several potential matches for Vrugtman and did not present those that did not fit Vrugtman’s preferences, and that although Vrugtman was not matched with a reader, her matchmaker did consider and match her with individuals that had her other desired traits, such as race, physical appearance, and location."
The case, filed in 2020, claimed It's Just Lunch failed to correct problems alleged in a previous case whose settlement provided up to $60 million in refunds and vouchers.