Living in Los Angeles means we’ve all been on bad dates. If you live in this city, it’s pretty much a given at this point. Understandably, many women have started to use social media to warn against these potential red flags. The famed Facebook group “Are We Dating The Same Guy?” has local groups around the world, and recently they scored a legal victory in California.
Case dismissal
On April 8, a California judge dismissed one of several cases brought forward against one local group. The complaints were brought forward by a man named Stewart Lucas Murrey. He is suing more than 50 women, but only 9 of them are actually named in court documents.
Privacy concerns
According to a statement on his website, Murrey states that the lawsuits were brought “against multiple defendants, particularly key players who obsessively conspired to stalk, dox, and harass me.” Murrey further claims that the actions and practices from these Facebook groups constitute “illegal violations of privacy and have become widespread.”
Murrey initially filed his complaint in June 2023. He states that posts made in several local “Are We Dating the Same Guy?” groups caused him emotional distress. The local groups referenced are primarily located in Los Angeles County and Orange County. They are only a small part of a much larger network consisting of a couple hundred private Facebook groups solely dedicated to the same cause.
Worldwide groups
Women in these groups privately post about men they’re seeing in order to get information from other women who may have similar dating experiences with the same man. These groups say they aim to “warn other women about liars, cheaters, abusers, or anyone who exhibits any type of toxic or dangerous behavior.” The first group started in New York in March 2022, and unsurprisingly, similar groups have grown rapidly across the country and around the world in a relatively short period of time.
Anti-SLAPP
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gregory Keosian granted one of the defendants, Vanessa Valdes, an anti-SLAPP motion. According to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, these “anti-SLAPP laws provide defendants a way to quickly dismiss meritless lawsuits…filed against them for exercising speech, press, assembly, petition, or association rights.”
Legal implications
While this one lawsuit has been dismissed, there are many other defendants still fighting against their own respective cases. There are several further updates to come on this ongoing case. Unfortunately, this is not the only lawsuit of its kind.
A man in Chicago brought a separate lawsuit against 27 women also concerning their private posts in the Chicago chapter of the now-famous group. However, a judge in Illinois dismissed it in January, only for the plaintiff to immediately refile a class action complaint the very next day. The plaintiffs in both cases claim the legal implications of each of these verdicts has ramifications for us all regarding privacy and online public forums.