LOS ANGELES — Dating can be difficult. What if you get stood up? What if you are not compatible? What if you get a fake phone number?

And then there is the case of Stewart Lucas Murrey, who sued a group of women after they talked about him in a private Facebook group, warning others about his bad behavior on dating apps.

The lawsuit names as defendants 10 women, but a Los Angeles superior court judge recently tossed out the suit against one. Murrey vows to pursue the legal squabble.

Murrey, a Santa Monica resident, said his social status took a hit because of the comments made by women whom he claims to have met through dating apps. His June 2023 lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, accused the women of defamation and seeks $2 million in damages. He claims sex-based discrimination because he couldn't join the Facebook group to respond to the claims made against him and alleges a civil conspiracy.

Murrey said he was labeled a murderer, and the women accused him of having a sexually transmitted infection, according to his complaint.

On Monday, Judge Gregory Keosian dismissed Murrey's lawsuit against one woman after she filed an anti-SLAPP motion, which targets lawsuits that seek to censor, intimidate and silence critics for exercising speech, press, assembly, petition, or association rights.

Murrey's lawsuit is centered around the Facebook group "Are we dating the same guy? — Los Angeles." The group has iterations across the United States. The first started in 2022, according to the online magazine Glamour, serving as a "whisper network" to help women navigate the dating scene in their cities. The Los Angeles group was not created specifically to discuss Murrey, but he was the subject of a message thread, according to court records.

Women on the Los Angeles-centered Facebook group shared in a post what they described as negative experiences with Murrey, according to a GoFundMe campaign started by the defendants to pay legal fees.

One woman shared a story about an exchange she allegedly had with Murrey after the two matched on the Tinder app. He insisted on meeting her that evening, but she was busy, according to a screenshot of her comment. Murrey allegedly found her Instagram page and tracked her down at a Beverly Hills hotel bar, where she was having a business meeting.

Another woman, Vanessa Valdes, threatened to report Murrey when he allegedly insulted her in a message conversation on the dating app Hinge, according to a series of screenshots shared in her anti-SLAPP motion.

...continued

©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.