Melissa Midwest Withdraws from Match.com Lawsuit

LOS ANGELES—A second plaintiff has asked to be dropped from the $1.5 billion dollar class action lawsuit filed late last year against Match.com for allegedly using fake profiles with images of real people. Former adult performer Melissa Midwest, also known as Melissa Harrington, who last week asked to be removed from the case, follows original plaintiff, Florida model Yuliana Avalos, who was dropped in January by attorney Evan Spencer. According to the Daily News, "[Spencer] decided to drop Avalos after receiving tips that she herself was a crook. Davin Rosenblatt, a New Jersey comedian who reports on cybercrime, told Spencer he had proof that Avalos and her boyfriend sold photos to scammers." However, Spencer also told the News that he believes Avalos' version of events, that she insisted on being dropped from the case and that he may reinstate her at a later date. "I talked with her over the weekend and I don't believe (the tips)," he told the paper. But now Spencer is down one more individual plaintiff after Midwest "'demanded that she be withdrawn as a plaintiff' because she never agreed to be part of the lawsuit, according to the document," the paper added. That leaves Meltech Inc., a company run by Harrington's ex-husband, Shane Harrington, as a plaintiff in the case that seeks to hold Match.com accountable for the alleged thousands of fake profiles that used images of people like Midwest and Avalos without permission. Following a hearing today in a New York courtroom before United States District Court Judge Jesse M. Furman, a scheduling order was issued by the court that permits Spencer from filing a Second Amended Complaint following the loss of Midwest. Clearly peeved at the meandering nature of the case, Judge Furman added that granting permission to file a third complaint "is premised on counsel’s representation that, barring any amendment of the complaint in response to a motion to dismiss, he does not intend to amend the complaint further to add any additional parties or any additional claims." Determined to keep the trial from taking up too much of his time, the judge also imposed strict deadlines for filings. * The Second Amended Complaint must be filed by April 2, 2014. * A Motion to Dismiss by the defendants must be filed by May 2, 2014. * A Third Amended Complaint in response to the Motion must be filed by May 23, 2014 * If the complaint is amended, defendant has three weeks to respond. * If plaintiff decides to instead file a response to the Motion to Dismiss, defendant's reply must be filed by June 2, 2014. Though the case now seems to be running on fumes, Spencer told the Daily News that the principle at stake is more important than the people named on the suit. "Whether it's a celebrity or an ordinary individual is not the issue," he added. "The issue is Match.com knowingly approving and publishing fake profiles that include photographs of non-members."