Priest suing dating app Grindr not aware of arbitration agreement

Msgr. Jeffrey Burrill claims the gay dating app data leak has derailed his hope to be a bishop

Msgr. Jeffrey Burrill | Photo from USCCB

LOS ANGELES – A Catholic monsignor, who alleges in a lawsuit that Grindr’s improper sharing of his private information has derailed his hope to be a bishop, says in new court papers that he had no idea when he began using the gay dating app that he would be required to arbitrate any disputes.

In 2021, a Catholic media site, The Pillar, reported that Msgr. Jeffrey Burrill had been using the app and he subsequently had to step down from his position as the general secretary of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), according to his Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit.

On Wednesday, Burrill’s lawyers filed court papers with Judge Armen Tamzarian in opposition to Grindr’s motion to compel arbitration of Burrill’s claims for fraud and deceit as well as violations of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act and the state Unfair Competition Law.

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In their court papers, Grindr lawyers maintain that signing an arbitration agreement is a prerequisite to creating a Grindr account and using the app and that Burrill could have opted out of the agreement and did not. A hearing on Grindr’s motion is scheduled April 22.

Grindr user

Burrill, in a brief sworn declaration, says he may have used Grindr as early as 2012.

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“I do not recall seeing an arbitration agreement with Grindr,” Burrill says. “Because I do not recall seeing an arbitration agreement, I also do not recall if I ever opted out of an arbitration agreement.”

In their court papers, Burrill’s lawyers state that there are no facts showing an enforceable arbitration agreement between Burrill and Grindr.

“Defendant presents no evidence of a signed agreement or any electronic data to verify that plaintiff, personally, clicked a word, checked a box or otherwise assented to an agreement,” Burrill’s attorneys argue in their pleadings.

According to Burrill’s suit, Grindr “falsely and misleadingly represents” that it does not sell its users’ data and that it takes steps to protect an individual’s privacy, Burrill’s information was bought by the Catholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal, a theologically conservative private foundation.

False and lurid claims

The CLCR gave the data to The Pillar, which in July 2021 published worldwide and article in which Burrill’s use of Grindr was revealed and he was “smeared with false and lurid claims,” including suggestions that he may have been involved with minors, the suit states.

The consequences came quick, the suit states.

“Plaintiff*s reputation was immediately destroyed and he has received an endless river of worrisome threats and hate mail,” the suit states.

“He was forced to leave his position as general secretary with the USCCB and his upward trajectory to the position of bishop has been permanently derailed.”