Match.com Sex Lawsuit Sent Back To State Court

Los Angeles - In what is being billed as a victory for a woman who says she was raped by a man she met on Match.com, a federal judge today sent her lawsuit against the Internet dating site back to state court.

Lawyers for television/film producer Carole Markin, 53, of Hollywood filed a request May 5 for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in Los Angeles Superior Court to compel Match.com to stop accepting new members until a sexual-predator screening system is installed.

Attorneys for Match.com then had the hearing moved to federal court in Los Angeles, apparently in the hope that a judge would dismiss the lawsuit entirely.

Instead, U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson today remanded the case back to the state court.

During a brief hearing, Wilson said that while the complaint had "no standing" in the federal arena, "I don't believe the remedy is to dismiss."

Heath Hamaguchi, a spokesman for Markin, said outside court that she had "won a big victory" by having the case remanded back to Superior Court.

"We are thankful for the judge's ruling," Hamaguchi said. "The judge obviously felt the case was too important to dismiss outright."

Match.com attorney Robert H. Platt said after the hearing that Markin has little chance of winning the case regardless of the venue.

"She has no legal grounds whatever the forum," Platt said. "She has offered no legal basis as to why she thinks she has the right to advise Match.com how to run its business."

Markin's attorney, Mark L. Webb, had subpoenaed his client and her alleged assailant, Alan Paul Wurtzel, as well as Match.com president Mandy Ginsberg to testify at today's hearing before Wilson.

However, no testimony was required during the 10-minute proceeding.

A date has not been set for the next hearing in the case.

Officials at Match.com have said the company would begin cross-referencing members against the National Sex Offender Registry, a process which Webb contends could take months to implement.

Markin says she met 67-year-old Wurtzel on Match.com in 2010, they went out twice and he raped her in her apartment.

Afterward, Markin did an Internet check on Wurtzel, finding he had sexual battery convictions, according to Webb.

Wurtzel has been charged and is awaiting trial. His attorney, Sharon Morris, said Wurtzel and Markin had a "consensual encounter."

Markin, who was initially identified in court papers as "Jane Doe," said she went public with a series of media appearances last month because, "I want to prevent something like this happening to another woman."