The developer of the popular dating app Tea Dating Advice says it was designed to help women date safely, and was designed by a man whose mother had terrible dating experiences using other online platforms.
But according to one attorney who practices family law in Dearborn, Michigan, the app is to blame for a recent uptick in divorce filings.
“One party’s picture profile might have been uploaded online, and then, you know, their friends and family find out, and the embarrassment from it just leads to, then just leads to them filing for divorce,” said Mohamed Ali Hammoud, associate attorney at Mourad Law.
Hammoud says he filed about a dozen divorce cases in the past month and took a dozen more inquiries.
“Dearborn, especially like in much of Detroit, it’s a very tight-knit community, so everybody knows everything, especially on the neighborhoods and stuff like that,” Hammoud said. “So when there’s a person suspected of cheating on a wife, a family with a wife of three children, the majority of the community is going to find out.”
The app even spawned a copycat called Teaborn, which was quickly shut down after nude photos were uploaded.
“Your version of a date on the Tea app is one thing, but for you to go and leak public, leak nudes, and other images, completely unacceptable,” Hammoud said.
Hammoud says his law office has also fielded calls regarding defamation lawsuits.
“For you to have a defamation case, you have to prove that that information was false and misleading, and it was published to a third party,” Hammoud said.
Hammoud says the cost to file a defamation lawsuit can be anywhere between $5,000 and $10,000. Hammoud adds that it’s much cheaper to file for divorce.
CBS News Detroit has reached out to the developer of the Tea app for comment.
