Match Group and IAC Accused of Hiding Sexual Misconduct to Boost Valuation

Fresh motions have been filed in the New York Supreme Court which accuse Match Group and IAC of hiding sexual misconduct allegations against former Tinder CEO Greg Blatt.

It comes as part of a wider lawsuit led by Sean Rad, who Blatt succeeded at the end of 2016. The team of plaintiffs claim that parent companies deliberately undervalued Tinder in order to avoid fully paying out stock options to its founders.

It’s now claimed that the initial case against Blatt was covered up and that a “sham” investigation took place. This was allegedly done to ensure that he was still in charge and able to oversee the valuation in 2017.

Tinder’s former VP of marketing and communications Rosette Pambakian accused him of groping her and several other female employees at a Christmas party in 2016. Lawyers are now asking that all the notes from the internal investigation be turned over, after they found emails from the time that appear to show Blatt received extra protection.

IAC has since responded in a filing of its own, saying it is “purely conjectural and wholly void of proof”.

A further statement to Bloomberg said: “The company has nothing to hide. We did prepare for exactly what came to pass: Sean Rad making scurrilous accusations, completely unsupported by even the alleged victim, in an attempt to harm the company and improperly benefit himself.”

Rad has been accused of potential underhand tactics already in this lawsuit. In November 2019, Match Group’s former owners said that he illegally recorded conversations between numerous employees and supervisors.

The case is set to go to trial in November of this year, after initially kicking off more than three years ago.

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