EHarmony sued in gender bias case

A Northern California woman sued the operator of online dating service EHarmony, alleging the Pasadena company violated state law barring discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Linda Carlson said she tried to use the website in February to meet a woman but couldn’t because the site offers to find a compatible match only for men seeking women or women seeking men, according to her suit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

The company, which conducts extensive personality profiling in an attempt to match people with compatible values and interests, said its research was based on “successful heterosexual marriages,” but denied that it illegally discriminated.

“Nothing precludes us from providing same-sex matching in the future,” EHarmony said in a statement. “It’s just not a service we offer now based upon the research we have conducted.”