Six women who were drugged and raped or sexually assaulted by the same Denver cardiologist have filed a lawsuit against Match Group, accusing the company of accommodating rapists across its products Tinder and Hinge. The civil suit, filed in Denver district court, alleges negligence and a defective product design that allowed known abusers to remain on the platforms.
The women, proceeding anonymously, say that even after Match Group received reports about rapists, it continued to welcome them, failed to warn users, and recommended known predators to members. The complaint cites an 18-month investigation by the Dating App Reporting Project, published in the Guardian in February, which found that Match Group had known about the scale of harm on its platforms for years but kept that information secret.
Stephen Matthews, the cardiologist at the centre of the case, was sentenced in October 2024 to 158 years to life in prison for drugging and sexually assaulting 11 women between 2019 and 2023. The lawsuit claims Matthews was first reported to Hinge in 2020 but remained active on Match Group apps, continuing to match with and assault women until 2023.
One survivor who reported Matthews was told by Match Group that he had been permanently banned, yet he remained on Hinge and was even promoted as a standout match. The lawsuit calls Hinge's product design defective, alleging that a bad actor can easily unmat and continue to target victims.
Match Group did not provide comment before publication. In a previous statement, the company said it was committed to investing in safety tools, including AI, ID verification, and law enforcement support. However, the Dating App Reporting Project investigation found that Match Group scaled back critical trust and safety teams and removed a promise to publish a transparency report from its website.
