Tinder exec Rosette Pambakian email to staff about suing IAC and Match

Rosette
Pambakian, Tinder’s vice president of marketing and
communication.
Getty

• Tinder’s marketing and communications chief Rosette
  Pambakian has reportedly been put on leave.
• She and three other staff ended up on leave after they
  sued the dating app’s owners for $2 billion.
• Pambakian wrote a heartfelt email to staff claiming it
  was important to “shine a light on the terrible practices I
  have witnessed from Match.” The email was obtained by
  Fortune.
• Tinder’s owners, InterActiveCorp and Match Group, said
  the lawsuit is “meritless.”

Tinder’s marketing and communications chief wrote a heartfelt
email to staff before reportedly being placed on administrative
leave for suing the dating app’s owners.

Rosette Pambakian is one of 10 current and former Tinder staff who filed a $2
billion lawsuit on Tuesday against nterActiveCorp (IAC) and Match
Group.

They allege that IAC purposely undervalued the startup to reduce
the amount they had to pay in early employee options. They also
claim that former Tinder CEO and IAC Chairman Greg
Blatt “groped and sexually harassed” Pambakian.

Pambakian has now been placed on leave while the legal action
plays out, according to Fortune. Three
other Tinder employees involved in the lawsuit have also been
asked to step back from their roles, the report said.

Although Fortune did not identify these other employees, current
Tinder staff named as plaintiffs include cofounder Jonathan
Badeen, Vice President of Finance James Kim, and Joshua Metz, the
director of marketing.

Shining a light on “terrible practices”

In her email to staff on Tuesday, reproduced in full by Fortune,
Pambakian said it was important to “shine a light on the terrible
practices I have witnessed from Match, including covering up
sexual misconduct by senior executives and depriving talented
employees of hard-earned compensation.”

Pambakian said she had remained at Tinder because of her love for
the company, from writing her first press release for the dating
app in 2012, to becoming its vice president of marketing and
communication.

“I take great pride in having grown Tinder from scrappy startup
to global powerhouse, and, with all of your hard work,
maintaining Tinder’s position as an industry leader,” she wrote.

Pambakian continued: “As Tinder employees, we made a deal with
IAC and Match that we would work hard and, in return, if we were
successful, the company would share the fruits of that success
with us. IAC and Match violated those contracts and worse.”

Business Insider has contacted Tinder and IAC for comment. IAC
said the allegations raised in the lawsuit were “meritless” and
it intends to “vigorously defend [itself] against them.”

In a statement on Tuesday, it added: “Match Group and the
plaintiffs went through a rigorous, contractually-defined
valuation process involving two independent global investment
banks, and Mr. Rad [Tinder cofounder Sean Rad] and his merry band
of plaintiffs did not like the outcome.”