Woman Tentatively Settles Harassment Suit vs. Matchmaking Service

LOS ANGELES (CNS) – A woman has reached a tentative settlement in her lawsuit alleging she was wrongfully fired for objecting to management’s hostile work environment that required her to portray herself as a sex object in order to lure male clients.

Ayanna Mendez’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit against Professional Matchmaking LLC alleged whistleblower retaliation, sexual harassment, unfair competition, improper demand for social media access as well as various state Labor Code violations.

Attorneys for Mendez filed court papers on Wednesday notifying him of a “conditional” settlement in the case with the expectation a request for dismissal will be filed by April 1. No terms were divulged.

In her suit, Mendez says she was hired in July 2021 and her job duties eventually evolved into one dedicated to “finding male client leads.”

Mendez contended the company CEO directed her as part of her job to maintain profiles on various competing dating services and to “show her body” in images in which wealthy men would consider her a “sex object” and sign up.

In order to make the operation work, Mendez had to answer inquiries and converse with male client leads at all hours on her own time without compensation, the suit states.

“Plaintiff’s protests of this practice likewise fell on deaf ears,” the suit states.

Mendez further alleged she was directed to end all contact with the men after their information was added to the company database. Mendez says she was fired for speaking out against the firm’s practices.

Management demanded access to her personal phone so that supervisors could “rifle through it and examine her use of social media,” then fired her under the excuse she was surfing the Internet during work hours, according to the suit brought in April 2023, which also alleged she was denied meal and rest breaks.

In their court papers, company attorneys denied Mendez’s allegations and said they were barred by the statute of limitations and by her failure to explore all of her internal grievance options before suing.